A Tale of Two Swords
by Parcasious
Summary: Past and future, a beginning and an end, a story of two souls wandering within a new world.
1. Chapter 1

He was a kid like her, with hair as red as her's, and hands that bled just the same. So why was it that he tried so hard to protect everyone around him? He never complained when he took on another's work and added it to his own. He never complained even as he collapsed from exhaustion everyday, his body bruised and malnourished.

"Erza quickly!" Jellal, her blue haired friend urged. "The guards are coming."

"I know!" Swiftly, Erza stuffed what little loafs of bread she had stole from the guard's table into a small hole in the wall. However, it did little to hide the food from sight, she had to find som-

"-You there, stop!"

Erza froze as Jellal clenched his fists in frustration. They needed that food. The food provided was meager at best and only enough to ward of death. However, Sho, one of Erza's friends desperately needed the food, his body coping with a sudden flue. However, it should be fine by the morning should he eat well and recover.

The guard approached Erza, each step echoing into her ears and quickening her heart beat. Her hands began to tremble as she slowly turned around to face the guard, her back obscuring the food from view.

"Another one of you wretched slaves thinking its okay to slack off from work." The guard scoffed. "It sickens me." The guard grabbed the baton holstered to his waist. "You know the dr-ackk!"

Erza's eyes widened in surprise.

"Hurry!" Was all the red haired boy could say before he scampered away from the guard he tackled to the ground. Enraged, the guard chased after the boy, baton grasped tightly in hand.

 _He knew, and yet he..._

Erza watched distantly as the boy with hair as red as her's disappeared behind the corner that she knew all too well was a dead end.

"You heard him, lets go!" Jellal said as he ran up to Erza.

"W-We can't just..." Erza's words died in her mouth, the sound of flesh against metal encompassing the small room.

Jellal's face was grim.

"...We need the food for Sho." Jellal said bitterly.

"B-But, damn it this isn't fair!" Erza raised her voice.

"I know bu-" The sound of a guard's footsteps grew near. "-Oh shit!"

Jellal grabbed Erza by the arm, and the food with his other hand before running back to the general safety of their cell. The sound of flesh against metal ringed clearly in both of their ears for the entirety of the run.

* * *

"You foul thing," Erza's eyes opened wide as the door of the cell she and the others occupied was suddenly forced open. "One of these days I'll kill you for your disobediance."

"Enough Balpor, this slave is our most efficient worker." Another voice said.

Erza pushed herself off the ground and scrambled over to where Jellal, Sho, Simon, Wally and Millianna were huddled by Rob.

"..." The guard tossed the boy gripped in his hand towards the floor. "Next time the punishment will be far worse."

The guards closed the door behind them and promptly walked away.

Erza and Jellal were the first to move upon spotting the familiar tufts of red hair. It was the boy who had helped them earlier. Bruises covered his body from head to toe, other areas littered with bleeding cuts. It was the sheer amount of blood staining the boy's dirty rags that caused both Erza and Jellal to look away in guilt.

Rob came and approached both Erza and Jellal, Simon and the others staying tentatively behind him.

"It's quite a beating." Rob said softly. "Truly not one meant for a child no older than the rest of you."

Jellal clenched his fists. He hated this place, this tower in the middle of nowhere. He hated the people who stole him and the others from their homes to be treated as no less than animals.

Rob's hands went to the small sac tied around his waist where he kept a supply of gathered bandages. It was difficult hiding them from the guards, but none truly questioned him for possessing what amounted to little more than thin strips of cloth.

"Lift up his shirt child." Rob asked Jellal. "I need to bandage his wounds before he loses too much blood."

Jellal nodded his head before tentatively lifting the shirt off of the boy's back. The wounds were truly worse than they had first appeared. Skin was flayed in areas as if a dull knife was used to cut into it. However, it was the wound located at the center of his chest that elicited a silent gasp from all present. It was a star shaped stab wound directly over the boy's heart. What's more, the attack inflicted seemed to have pierced straight through the boy; if the scar directly on his back was any indication.

"My god." Rob muttered in shock. "What have they done to you..."

"...Nothing...that..can't...be...healed." The boy blinked his eyes open. They were a deep bronze.

"Those aren't injuries to scoff at child." Rob said. "Now let me bandage you."

Weakly nodding his head, the boy allowed Rob to bandage him.

"This, I've never seen such a magic before." Rob muttered in amazement.

As Rob was bandaging the boy's wounds, he could visibly see the boy's wounds closing up and repairing themselves. Truly it was a magic invaluable to the harsh conditions of the Tower of Heaven.

The word 'magic' instantly garnered the attention of Erza, Jellal, Simon, Sho, Wally, and Millianna, but they knew better than to press an injured person for answers.

"Magic-" The boy coughed out blood and leaned himself against the cell's walls. "-you could call...it...that."

"Enough speaking child, rest till you get better." Rob said.

With much pestering from Rob, the boy closed his eyes and drifted off to sleep. A moment passed before the others began to talk to themselves by a corner of the cell.

"It was him wasn't it." Sho said. "The one who helped both of you."

Erza and Jellal nodded their heads, absently sending glances towards the sleeping boy.

"They call him Shirou." Millianna said. "He helped me once before when I hurt my ankle."

"He also did my share of the work in the mining area when my hands began to blister." Simon added.

Unknowingly, they all glanced at the bloody rags laid plain across the floor and shivered. Not one of them could imagine the amount of pain Shirou must have gone through. Sho rubbed on his arms in discomfort, realizing what Shirou had done for him. Why would he do such a thing? It didn't make sense, not in the Tower of Heaven where the weak died one by one.

However, how one could live with a hole through their chest was the bigger question.

"So he helped Sho, Erza, and Jellal." Wally said after a moment. "When's it my turn?"

They glared at Wally.

"...It was a joke." Wally muttered. "But still, I can't believe someone has hair as red as Erza's."

"Now that you mention it, you're right." Jellal said.

Erza began fumbling with her neck length hair, twisting it around a finger.

"But there are other people with red hair." Millianna argued.

"In this tower?" Simon asked. "Unlikely."

"Children, you should all take after the boy and get some rest." Rob interrupted as he sat down by the cell's walls. "We never know what might happen tomorrow."

Reluctantly, they all took after Rob's words, despite the numerous questions each had in their minds.

* * *

"You're finally awake." Simon tugged lightly on Shirou's tattered clothing. "We have to hurry before all the remaining food is eaten."

In the tower of Heaven meant to bring back the legendary dark mage Zeref, food was only provided once in a day- at the breaking of dawn. By the slivers of light peaking in through the cracks of the cell, it had long since passed day break. Perhaps it was mid-noon, an hour before the guards would force the slaves into labour.

Simon stood across from Shirou along with the others who had waited for them despite knowing that they may miss their meal. Rob however, had woken up early to heal another child in another cell. It was testamount to the gratitude they felt towards Shirou that Jellal, Erza, Sho, Millianna, and Wally, did not utter a complaint as Shirou wiped at his eyes and tiredly pushed himself up into a sitting position.

"Food?" Shirou muttered as he cleared his vision.

"Yeah, the garbage they feed us with." Jellal said. "But it's better than nothing."

Shirou tested his arms and legs before gingerly standing up on his feet. Not a single bruise remained from the previous night, blood peeling off to reveal new skin.

"Garbage?" Shirou said as he placed his bloodied shirt over his chest. "I call it food."

"That crap? Food?" Simon said exasperated. "Your wounds may be healed, but your mind is debatable."

"Simon!" Erza admonished.

Shirou let a small smile grace his lips.

"You'll see what I mean. First we have to get the food, then we have to take it to Bare's Bottom." Shirou said.

Bare's bottom was a small area devoid of anything; it was just a space where a portion of the tower hollowed out.

"What are we going to do there?" Erza asked.

"Eat." Was all Shirou said as he made for the slave's canteen.

* * *

As it would turn out, Bare's bottom wasn't as empty as Erza had assumed. It was full to the brim with the elderly and young children. Understandably, there were no adults since they were required to work immediately upon waking up. Strangely, all off of them had food in their hands, and yet none of them proceeded to eat any of it.

Upon sighting Shirou, smiles lit up their faces.

"W-What's going on?" Millianna asked as she and the rest were surrounded by people calling out to Shirou.

Jellal, Simon, Wally, Sho, and Erza, had no answer.

"Alright everyone," Shirou said. "We all know how this works."

Nodding their heads, one by one the children and the elderly deposited the food they had in their hands on a mat against the floor. The amount laid down didn't look as if it was even enough to feed half of the people within the room. Shirou urged for Erza and the others to do the same.

"Alright, what's going on?" Jellal asked as he laid the garbage given to him at the slave's canteen down.

"Name's Sorano, First time?" A silver haired girl asked, her bangs covering her forehead. She was about the same age as Jellal. Her skin was pale and her eyes a curious brown.

"Y-Yeah, name's Jellal." Jellal muttered as a child pushed past him. "Why is Shirou sorting through the garbage, and where did you all manage to hide a pot that large?"

Beside Shirou was a pot large enough to fit the contents of all the food gathered.

"U-Uhm," An orange haired boy interrupted. "I hid the pot with a little Earth Magic."

Jellal stared at the orange haired boy before he heard Wally choke a gasp. Concerned, Jellal, Erza, Simon, Millianna, and Sho turned to Wally.

"R-Richard!" Wally yelled, tears trickling down his cheeks.

"W-Wally!" Richard, the orange haired boy said.

Wally pushed past Erza and Jellal and ran up to Richard.

"That's Richard?" Simon said. "He looks exactly as Wally described him."

Richard was portly for a boy living within the Tower of Heaven, the rags he wore just barely able to encompass his body.

A fragrant smell drifted from the open fire Shirou had lit with two sticks and a small flint. The pot simmering above the fire was probably the source of the smell. Despite the meager amount of food provided, Shirou had utilized it to its full capabilities and was somehow able to cook enough to provide food for all.

"Hurry," Sorano said. "We don't want to be at the end of the line."

And indeed the line was increasingly large. It was lucky that Sorano had informed them quickly enough not to be left at the very back. As of the moment, they were a few people away from the front. It didn't take long for Jellal, Erza, Simon, Sorano, Millianna, Sho, Wally, and Richard to be sitting against the ground with a warm bowl of food in front of them.

"T-This is-" Jellal couldn't finish as he hungrily shoved spoonful after spoonful into his mouth. Bits of food were scattered along the floor in his haste, but not even Erza could reprimand his behaviour for she herself would contradict it.

"...By the gods." Wally said reverently beside Richard. "Where were you all my life?"

Wally and Richard had their moment of reunion and were now enjoying the food placed before them.

As plate after plate of food was passed around to those present, it became quieter and quieter as everyone sat down and began eating.

"Garbage," Simon mumbled. "Who was the fool who said this was garbage."

Milliana, Sho, Erza, and Wally nodded their heads. Jellal just didn't care anymore.

Shirou's voice carried out across Bare's bottom.

"It seems we still have room for seconds."

Bare's bottom, a place normally devoid of life, unbeknownst to the guards, became the only source of happiness in the wretched building that was the Tower of Heaven.

* * *

 _Elsewhere..._

Mirajane never knew why her older brother always referred to himself as 'Archer.' His name was Shirou Strauss, a boy with hair as white as her's Elfman's and Lisanna's. His skin was more resemblant of Elfman's tan, but then again, it did come from their father. Speaking of parents, they died not to long ago... Archer never did explain the exact cause, but he had been the one to shoulder the burden of taking care of everyone. It was why he was never with them in the day; he was always out hunting or looking for work to garner a steady income. An income he never spent on himself. No amount of pleading from Lisanna or Elfman, or even her heated glares could change his decision. Always with that snarky smile, he would change the subject even as Lisanna, Elfman, and even herself, stared guiltily at his torn clothing.

Their clothes in comparison were at a much higher level; enough clothing to keep them warm in the night and pass off as civilized in the town streets. Mirajane didn't miss the way the towns people stared at her brother as he walked across the market to buy food and supplies. It infuriated her how their eyes seemed to put him on a lower level. God damn it, she hated it! Hated the way that she, Elfman, and Lisanna, were only a burden to him. He was only nine, a year older than her, and yet he-he...

Mirajane clenched her fists in frustration.

"Sis, d-don't squeeze your hands to tight." Elfman placed a hand on Mirajane's shoulder. "Y-You're beginning to ble-."

"It's not right Elfman." Mirajane muttered despite Elfman's concerns. "It's just not right."

"Shirou's out again isn't he?" Lisanna asked meakly.

Elfman nodded his head to Lisanna.

"...He also left his portion of the food for us again." Elfman said. "W-When was the last time we saw him eat more than a handful?" Elfman's voice wavered.

Mirajane shivered as she stared resentfully at the sky from the window of the small house her brother provided for, wishing that she could do something for her sibling.

* * *

Archer didn't know how or why he ended up where he was now. All he could recollect from his fragmented memories was facing off against Berserker rather than following through with his plan to rid the world of himself. But it didn't really matter now anyway. In this world, Alaya wasn't present to bid her will against his. In this world he had family to provide for. He had had enough of setting lives on a scale, for now he would simply do all in his power to protect his siblings- no matter the cost.

Now if only he could find a way to utilize his magic once again. The feeling of his circuits was different to the point that he couldn't draw power from them. Something had happened during the blank stage where he had died by Berserker's hands and was born into this world. His circuits for example felt as if they were relocated to a physical part of him, into a container of sorts. Until he could find a way to draw forth the power from said container, he was stuck. However, he felt that he was close. He had managed to trace a a small dagger when he was once attacked by a wild boar. Maybe the key to the container was emotion...he would have to dabble with this further, but for now, he needed more money to keep his siblings healthy.

* * *

 **Well, how was it? Good? ...Bad?**

 **Thanks for reading**

 **-Parcasious**

 **I do not own Fate or Fairy tail**


	2. Chapter 2

"...Yes, everything begins from you believing with your heart. You can think of tarots, faith, prayer, and such as Magic. Its a miracle that only true believers can experience. Only those who believe that Magic exists, believe in themselves, and believe that they can coexist with everything in nature can use such a thing as Magic." Rob said to Erza.

"Then what about spirit?" Shirou asked. "Or a container of sorts within our bodies."

Rob turned his attention to Shirou who sat listening next to Erza and the others. It was around mid-night, the time the slaves were allowed rest from within the Tower of Heaven. A thin strip of moon light was the only thing that illuminated the room.

"You're quite well educated, child." Rob said, a hand ruffling his beard. "The container within our bodies determines the limits of our Magic Power, and our spirit connects with the flow of nature to create magic."

Shirou sat silently for a moment, sorting through the information in his head. His brows furrowed in thought.

"I understand," Shirou crossed his arms. "But what about the second container, or at least the other half?"

Rob stared at Shirou with confusion.

"...Every mage only possess one container." Rob said. "Now off to sleep with you all; this is enough for tonight."

Shirou frowned, but said nothing else on the subject.

"But gramps, we want to listen to more." Jellal said.

"And there are many more nights to do so." Rob said with a sigh. "Now get on with you lot."

With a few grumbles and faint mutters, everyone went off to go to sleep. It was some time in the middle of the night that Erza woke up with a cold sweat. She had had a nightmare where she was left alone in the tower, Jellal and the rest nowhere to be found despite how hard she searched. Silently, she pulled herself closer to where her friends lay sleeping to share in their warmth. Fumbling in the dark, she felt out with her hands to ascertain their existence, only to widen her eyes in alarm when she realized Shirou wasn't there.

To her, Shirou was an important friend who gave happiness to her, Jellal, Simon, Wally, Millianna, and the others around him. Over the past few months she had gotten to know how much of a kind person he was. How he would go out of his way to make life more comfortable for them despite the hardships he himself faced. Just as it didn't take long for her to come to terms with Shirou's character, it didn't take long for her to see the animosity the guards had for him. They seemed to take offense to Shirou's kindness, and continually increased his work load. Jellal had once made a point about it, but there was nothing in which they could do. Then again, everyone who knew Shirou hated the guards who antagonized him.

Deep down however, it was Erza's, Jellal's, and many other's fears, that the guards would have enough of Shirou and get rid of him. Which was why her heart beat quickened when she heard the sound of a guards laughter passing by. They wouldn't have taken him during his sleep could they? ...Oh god they probably would.

Frantically, she scanned her eyes across the cell, but it was to dark to make anything out. Panicking, she once again fumbled in the dark until her hands came across Jellal's familiar back. If it was Jellal, he would know what to do.

"J-Jellal," her voice wavered as she pressed her hands against Jellal. "W-Wake up."

"...Erza?" Jellal's eyes flickered open before he tiredly rubbed at them with his hands. "What's going on?"

"S-Shirou, he's gone!"

Jellal sat up in alarm. He had grown to like Shirou, and the thought of him missing was not a pleasant one when the most likely scenario was a bad one.

"S-Should I wake up the other to search for him?" Erza asked.

"No, its better not to since we might draw attention with too many of us awake." Jellal placed his hands on Erza's shoulders. "You have to calm down to help me search for him."

"O-Okay." Erza let out a breath and reeled in her uncertainties. Jellal was right; It wouldn't serve any purpose to panic. "Where do you think we should look?"

Jellal fumbled in the dark, making his way to where he knew the cell's door was.

"The door's still locked, so he should still be in the room?" Jellal sounded uncertain.

The two wandered around, feeling their way across the darkness in search of Shirou. They didn't want to risk alerting the guards of themselves by yelling so they resorted to quite whispers to call out for Shirou.

"He's not in here." Jellal said. Where could he-"

"-on." A small flash of light flickered through the small barred window in the cell.

"That was Shirou's voice." Erza said as she made her way to the small window.

"But that's outside our cell." Jellal said as he approached Erza. "How do you think he go-" Jellal couldn't finish his question as he tripped over a stone tile by the window.

"Jellal, are you alright?" Erza asked as she ran to Jellal.

"I'm fine, and I think I found how Shirou got outside." Jellal said, noticing the hole the tile hid beneath it. "Lets go see what's going on."

Quickly, the two lifted the tile over the hole and crawled inside to wherever it lead. As it would turn out, it lead to a small flat plateau that was directly outside their cell. Sitting at the center of the plateau, eyes closed in concentration, was Shirou.

"Trace on."

A flicker of static blue light and Jellal could just barely make out the image of a sword appearing above Shirou's hand. However it faded before fully forming.

"Magic?" Erza whispered to Jellal who stared silently ahead.

"...Believe with my heart." Shirou muttered before once again raising a hand. "...Connect with the flow of nature, perhaps..."

Erza could barely hear what Shirou was saying from her distance away, but she paid more attention to what Shirou was doing. His extended hand had its palm now facing upwards towards the sky.

"Trace on!"

The image of the sword appeared once again over Shirou's hand, phasing in and out of existence.

"What kind of magic is he using?" Jellal asked Erza.

"I don't know, Gramps might though."

Shirou's eyes were furrowed in concentration, and finally, the sword materialized. It was an average sword made of steel with a polished pommel, and leather hand grips.

"It works..." Shirou let out a sigh of relief. "It actually works. It's only a matter of days now." Shirou turned his eyes towards the boats floating at sea. The supply ships would be docking soon.

Shirou stood up, his eyes reflecting his determination. However, it was at that point that Shirou turned around and noticed both Jellal and Erza crouched within the entrance of the hole to the cell. Jellal's blue hair and Erza's red hair, were unmistakable.

"Uhm," Erza began. "Hi?"

Shirou smiled wrily at the two. It was always difficult to explain oneself upon being caught snooping, but then again, they may have been justified in their reason; he's the one who left the cell after all.

"What kind of magic was that?" Jellal asked before shaking his head. "No, more than that, what do you mean by a matter of days."

"Well," Shirou scratched at the back of his head. "I was planning on explaining it to you all a bit later, so I guess it's okay if I say it now." Shirou stared at Jellal. "You, Erza, Simon- everyone, is going to escape this tower."

* * *

"The supply ships will be docking in a moment," Shirou traced a diagram over the dirt of the plateau. "From here, you can all make your way towards those ships and make your way out."

"What about the guards?" Rob asked curiously. "I am too old to run, and would only slow you all down should I come."

"There's no way were leaving you gramps." Millianna said.

"We'll all get out of here together." Erza nodded her head to Jellal's words.

"But the guards are still a problem." Simon said from beside Sho and Wally.

"You won't have to worry about the guards." Shirou said to Rob and the rest. "Just trust me and make your way towards those ships when I give a signal."

"Are we really getting out of here?" Sho asked Wally uncertainly.

"We'll never know until we try." Wally said. "If it's Shirou, he'll probably think of something."

"Alright, lets get this started." Shirou stood up. "I'm going to the ships first to clear out the guards inside, when I give a signal, thats when you all run to the ships."

Everyone nodded their heads, and Shirou left, running down the trail by the plateau that led to the coast.

"Shirou will be alright won't he?" Simon asked.

Erza nodded her head uncertainly. The magic she had witnessed prior gave her hope, but speaking of magic...

"Hey Gramps," Erza called for Rob. "What kind of magic lets you pull a sword out of nowhere?"

Jellal paid close attention for Rob's answer.

"Hmm," Rob rubbed at his beard. "That Erza, would be a magic called Requip. It allows the user to summon various types of equipment from a pocket dimension."

"Then Shirou uses Requip magic." Jellal stated. "Me and Erza saw it a few nights ago."

Rob's eyes widened in amazement. That must be why the boy was so sure of their escape, magic was now in his hands. However, Rob was certain that Shirou had just unlocked his magic. It was a combination not meant for good results. Shirou for all intents and purposes may not know the full capabilities of his magic, and is blindly charging ahead with over confidence. Rob shook his head, he didn't want to imagine the results of such a thing.

However, contrary to belief, Shirou was not over confident in his abilities, nor was he charging in blindly. Rob spotted his form from the distance, his red hair like a beacon. The boy had a pair of swords in hand, one black as night, the other, paler than ivory. With both swords in hand, he snuck up on the scarce number of guards guarding the ships. Now that Rob thought about it, it was near noon, the time of day where most of the guards congrated towards the guard's chamber to do whatever it is they do. How long must Shirou have watched the guard's patrols to realize such a thing? No matter, the question did little to impede the astonishment in Rob's gaze.

It wasn't long before Shirou disappeared into a ship's haul.

"Shirou did it." Rob said in amazement. "He's inside a ship."

Everyone's eyes lit up with hope Just like Rob, they had seen Shirou make his way towards the ship from the view of the plateau.

"There's the signal!" Simon yelled as he saw a small flicker of light in the distance.

"Lets go!" Jellal said as he ran along with everyone else.

Erza stayed behind to help Rob make his decent towards the ship. Numerous bodies of guards lay unconscious against the ground, their eyes closed tight. By the time Erza and Rob had made it towards the ship, Jellal and the others were already aboard.

"We're getting out of here! We're really getting out of here!" Jellal yelled in excitement. "Erza, Gramps, come on!"

Sho, Wally, Simon, and Millianna, stood next to Jellal, all sharing in the excitement.

Erza smiled along with Rob.

"I never thought I could see smiles like this again, in a place like this... freedom is in all of your hearts." Rob said.

"What are you talking about Gramps, you're smiling too." Erza said as she and Rob entered the ship.

Rob laughed good naturedly.

At the helm of the ship, everyone gathered, eyes shining bright. However, Wally stared back frantically at the tower.

"W-What about Richard?" Wally asked. "We can't leave him be-."

It was to the sound of running footsteps that cut Wally off. It was a crowd of the other prisoners, Shirou leading them from the front. Jellal smiled as he realized how Shirou managed to free the other slaves. It was around noon, the time where all the slaves worked in the mining field to secure ore. He probably defeated the guards in the field and lead everyone to safety. He knew it was odd that Shirou wasn't on the boat when they had arrived, but now he could understand why. Shirou was truly not one to turn his back on others.

"Over here!" Wally yelled to the incoming crowd. "Get into the ships."

Within a few moments, every prisoner in the Tower of Heaven had boarded one of the ten supply ships.

"...He did it." Sorano, the girl Jellal and the others had met in Bare's Bottom said. Tears were glistening down her eyes before she promptly wiped them away. "Just like he promised."

"Wally!" Richard yelled as he ran up to Wally. "We're really gonna get out of here!"

Erza looked around at all the people present and couldn't help releasing the tears that streamed down her face. However, it was with dawning horror that she realized the absence of the most important person.

"S-Shirou! Where's Shirou!" She yelled.

The boats lurched forward as the anchors that docked them to the port of the Tower of Heaven were cut cleanly.

"Shirou, what are you doing!" Jellal yelled frantically."You're not on a boat yet!"

The excitement of the crowd disappeared in a heart beat as they all stared at the lone figure on the coast. Tufts of red hair blew in the wind, a broad back facing the growing crowd of guards. It was irrational that the guards wouldn't notice the large commotion happening within the tower. Even more so that they would simply let all their workers get away.

"The darkness of this tower remains within all of your hearts." Shirou's voice carried over. "So long as it exists, you all can never truly be free. I will put an end to that darkness."

* * *

Shirou had known when the vast majority of the guards would be away from the supply ships, but he had also known that they would come in full force. Which is why he stayed behind. The guards weren't the troubling ones, it was the magic users. Any one of them could have sunk the ships before they could get far enough to escape.

"I knew we should have just killed you!" A guard yelled.

He didn't know his name, but at this point, he didn't care to know any of the guard's names. He simply raised Kanshou and Bakuya in front of him, glad for the use of his magecraft. As it would turn out, the key to his magecraft was the little bit of insight Rob had given him. It wasn't purely based on emotion, but rather on the connection of the spirit and nature. That itself was the key.

He eyed the guards in front of him, focusing more on the caped magic casters. He planted his feet firmly on the ground and charged forward, tossing both swords in his hands out before tracing a new set. For each strike, a guard would go down. For each strike, he would become more and more surrounded.

From his flank he was hit by a fire spell, from his left an ice spell.

He was blown back towards the coast, his breathing even despite his charred back and numb left arm.

" **I am the bone of my sword**." A familiar thrum of power welled up from within him, a ring of six swords forming around him.

The guards took a step back in trepidation as an eerie silence consumed the area.

"You fools, all of you!" A magic caster took a step forward. "He's just a single bo-"

Six swords shot out and gauged the earth, a thin physical line was formed between him and the guards.

"-Step over those swords," He glared at the guards standing behind the magic casters. "And I guarantee you won't live to regret it."

The guards eyes stared from the swords lodged in the ground, to the magic casters standing before them. They were at the advantage, and yet their primal instincts warned against fighting the boy. It was one of the many reasons most guards within the Tower of Heaven were of the opinion to kill the boy. Despite numerous beatings, and the boy's life in their hands, the feeling of a predator watching their prey never abated from the guards minds; rather the feeling was quite equivalent to being on blade's edge.

"HAhah you are a fool boy," the voice of one magic caster echoed through the battle field. "To have wasted your weapons on a warning, how pathetic."

The magic casters could see straight away that the boy possessed requip magic. Therefore, it was obvious to them that the boy only had access to the limited number of weapons he may have had stolen from the guards and stored in his pocket dimension.

"Wasted?" the air vibrated with magical power, ripples forming as the magic distorted light. "What could I have possibly wasted?"

At first it was ten, and from ten it went to twenty, to thirty, to forty, they just kept on multiplying. Swords, daggers- it didn't matter what kind, they all hovered before the guards. It was a veritable mass of steel, one blade for each person present.

"I will say it again," his eyes showed no mercy, his voice hollow and sharp. "Step over those swords, and I guarantee you won't live to regr-."

 _-Do you wish for true freedom?_

A sudden voice entered Shirou's mind, startling him. A ghostly apparition appeared before him.

 _True freedom lies with Zeref_

The apparition drew closer and wrapped itself around Shirou. However, it was when their eyes met that Shirou understood what lay in front of him. Structural grasping dictated that the apparition was a magic of sorts that possessed the individual. He had to act fast. He had to end things fast; not sure if the magic would be casted on him again. There was no more time, he had to destroy the tower quickly.

"Trace on!"

* * *

"W-What's he doing?" Millianna asked as she saw Shirou grasp hold of a jagged dagger. She gasped in shock as she watched Shirou stab it into himself.

Millianna's eyes widened along with Erza's and the rest. Shirou seemed as if he was in control of everything, and yet why would he stab himself?

The mass of steel still hovering over Shirou was evident to his control of the situation. It had come as a surprise at first when they began appearing, but surprise lead to hope. Shirou would be able to survive. That hope was holding onto a thin line now that he had stabbed himself.

"What's he doing!?" Erza vocalized her thoughts.

However, Shirou couldn't hear Erza's voice; they were now too far away from the coast for Erza's voice to reach. It was Rob who quieted everyone down as he sighed in weariness.

"That child is truly awe inspiring." Rob said as everyone paused to listen to his words."For everyone here, he chose to remain behind. I don't know why he would stab himself, but surely he had a purpose in doing so. Look." Rob pointed to the faces of the guards and the magic casters at the coast. "Their eyes are no longer watching us."

It was true, Shirou had done something no one had expected. Even the guards who's eyes had still remained on the boats were drawn away.

Erza choked back a silent sob that was threatening to burst from within her. Jellal clenched his fists and stared resolutely at Shirou's back.

"He has done for us, what any other child could not. He would stay behind to prevent any other child, or man from being taken from their homes to work in the tower. He is-" Rob paused as his eyes widened. He stretched a hand out to the small flecks of light that rose from around him and tears dripped from his eyes; a familiar feeling welling from within him. It didn't take long before a tower of pure light erupted from the Tower of Heaven. Rob turned to witness the scene.

 _Fairy Law, one of the Three Great Fairy Magics_

It was only ever once that Rob witnessed such a scene, and that was from master Makarov. For the boy to pull off such a magic so similar, he did not know how. Only that there was only one way he could describe the boy.

"...He was a child of the fairies."

The Tower of Heaven was no more, and the boy named Shirou was gone.

* * *

Ultear Milkovich clicked her tongue in frustration. She had had the boy in her clutches and he somehow broke free. The crystal ball she had in her hands shattered. She should have aimed for the blue haired boy instead, but the red haired one seemed more promising; his latent magical power like a torch in a cloud of embers.

Ultear stared at the remains of the crystal ball on the floor and sighed. It didn't matter much anyway, but she would remember that boy with red hair.

* * *

 **Thanks for Reading. Let me know if you have any comments, I'll be sure to read them.**

 **Next Chapter's on Archer**

 **As many can probably tell, things will be different with the tower destroyed.**

 **-Parcasious**


	3. Chapter 3

There's a demon that lives within the church. It was common knowledge within the small village located in a remote area of Fiore.

"I said no, Mirajane." Archer's eyes narrowed on his sister. "You're not coming with me and that's final."

"Not this time Shirou; I don't care what you say- I'm coming with you."

"It's Archer." Archer said. "And there's no way I'd be willing to put you in that kind of danger."

"Dad trained us in hunting." Mirajane argued. "I'm plenty good."

"With standard animals, I know. Dad never did get around to taking you hunting for magical beasts like he did with me."

"You were older!"

"I was simply more experienced like mom and dad."

Mirajane shut her mouth. Archer was right after all. Ever since she could remember, Archer was always her dad's favourite hunting partner. _"He soaks up knowledge like a sponge, fact is I think he's better than me in a few areas."_ Their father had acknowledged. But-but still! "You're not anything like mom and dad!" The words escaped her mouth before she could understand what she had said.

Archer's eyes darkened. "...No, I suppose not."

"W-Wait no," Mirajane fumbled with her words as Archer left the room. "I-I didn't..."

"Mira-nee!" Tears were glistening down Lisanna's eyes. "How could you!?"

The topic of the Strauss's parents was a complicated matter. Archer could try to hide it as best as he could, but deep down the other Strauss siblings knew that he blamed himself for their deaths. The subtle ways in which he would distance himself from them was enough of an indication.

"Archer just left?" Elfman said confused as he walked into the living room. "What..." Elfman paused as he noticed that Lisanna was crying. His sights fell on Mirajane who couldn't meet his gaze. She was rubbing at her arm, her bangs shadowing her face.

"Not now, Elfman...Just not now." Mirajane muttered as she quickly left the room.

 _"How could you!"_ Her fists were clenched. She was such a fool. Towards the brother who tried so hard for the family, all she gave in return was...damn it all! _Where did he go?!_ Her eyes scanned the forest outside her house before turning towards the open field. He wasn't there. She fell on her knees, her hands digging into the ground.

It was then that a sudden thought came to her.

 _The church, he must have went to the church._ Mirajane convinced herself as she pulled herself onto her feet. She hesitated, Shirou didn't want her to go to the church; it was the whole point of their argument.

Mirajane shook her head; she would just go to apologize. She didn't like the face her brother had made when he left, and her guilt was eating away at her.

Briskly, she began walking before being stopped by Elfman.

"Where are you going, Mira-nee?" He asked meekly. He was never one for confrontation.

"...The church." Mirajane pushed past Elfman.

"B-But Shirou sa-"

The look on Mirajane's face was enough to stop Elfman from speaking. Her eyes were watery and her lips were quivering.

"S-Stay here and protect Lisanna." Mirajane stuttered out. "I-I'm going to look for Shirou."

Elfman did nothing as Mirajane disappeared behind a hill.

* * *

Archer had his head laid gently against his hands as he stared off across the sky. He was atop a stone ridge looking out into the valley of the small village he lived in. It wasn't the best of places to live, but all the same, it was where he grew up. He sighed as he tiredly sat up and ran a hand through his white hair. He had to return to make dinner, luckily he had discovered a few fruit trees around a kilometer away from his home.

Now to go back...

Archer hesitated, he didn't leave on the most positive of notes, rather, he probably messed up. It was just that...He had failed to save them. Failed to save his parents and doomed his siblings to a harsh life. Could a Wrought Iron Hero like him truly deserve a new chance at life? After all, it served as a better alternative than ending his own existence. However, the chains that bound him to Alaya were no longer present.

A wry smile escaped Archer's lips. Somehow, some way, fate had a different answer to his problem. He shook his head; he really should get going. Questioning himself any further could only lead to doubt. After all, he had decided ever since the day he watched his siblings play across the field of their parent's house that he would protect them.

He stood up, reinforcing his body. For a counter guardian like him, it was embarrassing that it took him so long to utillize his magic. Then again, he is, and will always be a Third Rate Magus.

He jumped, falling so fast down the ridge that he cratered the ground upon landing. Bracing himself, he loosed his muscles and began his sprint back home.

Arriving just a short moment later, his eyebrows furrowed in confusion. "What's wrong Elfman, Lisanna?" He asked.

Elfman didn't answer. In fact the longer time went on, the paler his face got. He was trembling by the door as Lisanna went wide eyed.

"Y-You didn't go," Elfman stuttered. "T-Then Mira-nee..."

Archer's gaze moved away from Elfman before he pushed past him and made his way to Mirajane's room. She wasn't there. His eyes hardened. "Where is she?" He asked as he returned to the door.

Lisanna tugged on Archer's shirt, prompting him to look down at her face. Like Elfman, she was pale and trembling. "T-The church!"

* * *

Tentatively, Mirajane pushed open the church doors wide enough such that she could slip through. She shivered at the cold breeze that enveloped her, but proceeded in. It was dark, the only light filtering in from a small window opposite to the church alter. If it wasn't for her own courage, she felt as if the darkness within would take her over. She couldn't really describe the feeling, just that it felt different without Shirou with her. He was always there to rely on and to protect her; not that she needed the protection, but she was always comfortable with it. Thinking about it now, she loved her brother... which was all the more reason she had to find him. He had to be in here somewhere. Even now as she quietly maneuvered around the room, her guilt was constantly eating away at her. She-

"-..."

Mirajane's eyes darted back and forth, she heard something. In the silence of the day, the shadows within the church seemed to dance as if alive. "S-Shirou?" She asked.

"..."

Goosebumps traveled up her arms and down her body. She got no answer. Pulling in her courage, she sucked in a breath and puffed up her chest. "Come out, I know you're there!" She yelled. Again, nothing but the sound that she vaguely realized was breathing; more closely related to rasping really. All to soon it dawned on her that perhaps Shirou didn't actually go to the church which meant...

 _"They say a demon lives within the Church."_

What had she done? What was she thinking going into the church alone? The clatter of her steps echoed out across the church's hall. With Shirou, she was confident that she and him could defeat anything, demons included. She was strong. Shirou was stronger. Elfman and Lisanna weren't the fighting types, but that was how she liked it. She didn't want to imagine a situation in which they were forced to fight.

-SLAM

The church doors were pushed closed. Perhaps it was just the wind? Yet she knew the probability was less than zero. She turned around, round eyes widening at the demon that stood before the church doors. Its eyes were a frightening red, its extended maw dripping drool against the floor. Its claws scraped against the ground as it slowly made its way towards her. This was no where near close to hunting for animals. Shirou had been right; of course he had been right.

Mirajane backpedaled till her back pressed up against a cold wall. Fumbling with her hands till she grabbed hold of a book along the floor. She tossed it at the demon, but it didn't even flinch. In fact, it seemed to enjoy her struggling. It continued forward until it stood directly in front of her. She was trembling now, her complexion paling. Just as the demon thrust its arm forward, she too did the same.

It was in that moment that the unexpected happened. Rather than pain flooding through her system, instead it was the demon who shrieked. Foam was coming out of its mouth as it stared bewildered at its stump of an arm. Yet now it was Mirajane's turn to scream. One of hopelessness, grief, and utter disbelief. Her arm was gone, replaced by the arm of the demon's. _Oh nononon!_ She panicked, punching out at the demon with her new arm.

With unexpected strength, the demon was blown back across the church walls as Mirajane pressed her knees against her chest and began sobbing. It was then that the church became flooded with light, the doors bursting open. She lifted her head, and could only once again burst out into tears as she saw the confused, yet frightened face of her older brother.

* * *

Archer was afraid that he may have failed to once again protect those he held dear. A fear re-established upon noting the change in Mirajane's right arm. Anger soon flowed through him upon spotting the form of a demon sprawled beside the church's walls.

"Trace On." Without warning he dashed out towards the dazed demon and struck it down with a well placed blow from Kanshou. He dispersed his blades, now wasn't the time for fighting. He turned his attention on his trembling sister. "Mirajane-"

"-Stay back!"

Archer's features hardened and he began waking forward.

"I-I said s-stay back!"

Archer didn't care for what she said and stopped right in front of her. Tears were still dripping down her eyes and her body shied away from his touch.

"P-Please, don't look at me..." Mirajane turned her face away, no signs of the head strong sister Archer knew. Archer was beyond frustrated at himself, he was livid. But he would never let his anger show, not in front of anyone.

Uncaring of her protests, Archer wrapped his arms around her and let her cry on his shoulder. He drew circles on her back in the same way their mother had always done when they were sad.

"...I-I'm so sorry." Mirajane muttered, her face pressed against him. "I-I..."

"Enough." Archer said as he picked her up. "We're going home."

"A-A demon!" Archer's neck snapped towards the entrance. A group of villagers was standing there, hands pointed towards Mirajane. Before he could even try to stop them, they ran off. A sinking feeling took over Archer's gut. He quickly made his way home, glaring at anyone who so much as whispered about his sister.

By the time he got home, he kicked open his front door and placed Mirajane on the only couch they had in the room. Elfman and Lisanna gasped as they saw Mirajane's condition.

"O-Oh no..." Lisanna muttered.

"Mira-nee, y-you're arm?"

"Enough, Elman, Lisanna." Archer unconsciously glared at them. His mind racing as he structurally grasped Mirajane's right arm. "I need to concentrate."

It was a demon's arm. No matter how much Archer stared at it, all he could attain from his structural grasping was that it was a demon's arm. Nothing made sense, but perhaps, no; it must be!

" **I am the bone of my sword**." It took considerably more magical power to trace any noble phantasm, but he would spare no expense for his sister.

A jagged dagger appeared in his hands, Rule Breaker, the Dagger of the Witch of Betrayal, Medea of Colchis.

Lianna and Elfman's eyes widened when Archer stabbed Mirajane with a dagger. No one was more shocked at the event than Mirajane herself. And yet the unthinkable happened, her arm returned to normal. Archer pulled the dagger out of Mirajane and inspected her right arm. He sighed in relief.

Mirajane just stared at her arm. It was the same as it always was, but she could now feel a dark sensation within her. Despite everything, Shirou had cured her with his magic. He was always secretive of his magic, but at this moment she didn't care. She hugged Shirou with tears of relief in her eyes. Elfman and Lisanna were quick to join. They were family after all.

It was when a rock shattered through their window that the moment broke.

"Come out you demon!" Villagers stood stood outside, pitchforks and torches in their hands.

Archer knew things weren't going to turn out well, he just didn't expect it to be so soon. He urged Mirajane, Elfman, and Lisanna to remain in doors as he stepped out of the house and into the line of fire. Things would change from here on out.

* * *

 _Elsewhere_

"...We left him." Erza muttered for the sixth time.

Sho stared off at Jellal's hunched form. He hadn't spoken ever since the tower disappeared. Despite being free from the tower, Sho felt as if his troubles had only doubled. His friend had sacrificed himself for him, and the weight of that sacrifice was too much of a burden to bare. It just wasn't fair. As if to reflect his inner musings, the other escaped prisoners sat around quietly, occasionally glancing back at the direction of the missing tower.

No matter how much they hoped, Shirou wasn't there.

The one who had saved everyone, was the one who was the most deserving to escape. Tears escaped Sho's eyes; the happiness of being set free conflicting with his morality. When the light had enveloped the tower, it felt as if all the pain inflicted within the tower was just a nightmare- all the hardships and hatred fading away with the light. For that, he and all the others would be forever grateful. And yet, they would forever know that it was because of them that Shirou was no longer with them.

"Everyone," Rob's voice pierced through the calm. "Look at yourselves, then ask yourself if your acting in a way that would make that boy happy."

Rob was right. Shirou was a friend who took content with the happiness of others. It was why he was liked so much by everyone within the tower.

"He was special, that child. Like the rest of you, he was not meant to spend his days enslaved within the tower." Rob sat tiredly against the ship's guard rail. "However, if it's that child, he would have liked nothing more than to see you all smile. If you truly wish to honour the boy, strive forward with hearts held high and live on!"

"G-Gramps..." Millianna stuttered as she held back her tears.

"...Gramps is right." Jellal suddenly spoke. "That's the kind of person Shirou was."

The rest of the voyage was spent in silence; even as they docked and made their way through a forest to Magnolia, everyone's thoughts lingered on the boy with red hair.

* * *

P a treon. com (slash) Parcasious


	4. A Red Day

They called him a monster for caring for his younger sister. He called them hypocrites as he drove them away several months ago, noting all the favours he had ever done for them. They spat on his face and left while talking of all the things they had done for his family.

Where were they when word spread of a monster in the church? Where were they when he and his siblings were left orphaned after the death of their parents? Nowhere. Quite frankly, he didn't really care anymore.

Archer sighed as he noticed the growing grime and tears on his clothes, dreading another heated argument with his siblings. But the condition of his clothes wasn't exactly his fault. Ever since that day in the church, he had found it increasingly more difficult to earn a living for his siblings. Cooking aside, no one would hire him for any common jobs such as sewing, or tending a stall like they used to. His line of work more readily involved dealing with wild livestock, and hard labour in the farms. Even then; he was always only payed enough to feed himself, and it frustrated him to no end.

He wiped the mud off his shirt and inadvertently tore it in two from the neck down. He grimaced, but he took solace in the fact that his siblings were in better condition, he had made sure of it. They were children, let him, the man of the house, provide for them. He had lived through war and fires that scorched the very earth, what was living like a poor sap compared to that?

Apparently, his siblings saw differently. He scratched awkwardly at the back of his head in a familiar gesture that soured his mood further.

Lisanna stared tear eyed at him as he approached the modest home at the end of a muddy dirt road. The windows were cracked and even from his distance, he could smell the pungent fragrance of mold. Quite suddenly, he once again entertained the idea of destroying the village for tormenting his siblings.

 _Kill the few to save the many._

He frowned, but didn't allow for it to show on his face. The few was his family, and the many were the villagers? He clenched his fists before he shook his head, the action jolting Lisanna out of her daze.

"Y-Your clothes," Lisanna stuttered as she ran up and hugged him, uncaring about how the dirt rubbed against her clean dress. "It's not fair!" She yelled.

Archer noticed movement in the house and knew that it would only be a matter of time before Mirajane and Elfman came out. He bit his lip as he noticed Lisanna press her face harder against his chest to hide her tears.

 _Kill the few to save the many._

He knelt down and hugged her, one hand gently rubbing her head as she began to sob.

Mirajane burst out through the door of their house, her eyes seeming to catch fire as they landed on him and Lisanna. "Those _Bastards_." If forcing her brother to work in deplorable conditions wasn't enough, they had the gall to even destroy his clothes?! Her arm transformed erratically from a monster's, to her regular arm as her magic seeped out of control due to her raging emotions.

Archer met her gaze, and shook his head. It wasn't worth it. Elfman was of the same mind set as he tried and failed to calm down Mirajane.

Archer picked up Lisanna in his arms and walked towards Elfman and Mirajane. He bowed his head. "I'm sorry," he spoke. "I'll work harder for all of us." He would go hunting again, bring _meat_ to the house rather than half spoiled vegetables and milk. Lisanna, Elfman, and Mirajane didn't deserve that, they deserved better.

 _He ignored his own needs again,_ Elfman noted dejectedly, eyes staring at his brother's state. Each stain and tear on his brother's clothes were like a physical blow to him.

Hearing Archer's words, the fire extinguished from Mirajane's eyes. She nearly choked on her own disbelief. Archer, no; Shirou had done enough for them. How could he possibly continue to blame himself for their situation? It was _her_ fault. If she had listened to him, none of this would have ever happened, and yet he implied it was his fault? She closed her eyes and crossed her arms, trying to get control of her emotions and stop her arm from transforming. _To hell with this village._

"Let me…Let me help you." Elfman insisted as he made to take off his coat and hand it to Archer. His brother did everything he could for his family. A man amongst men. Elfman hardened his resolve, but couldn't stop his eyes from watering like Lisanna's.

Archer put a hand on Elfman's shoulders, stopping him from removing his coat. "You need it more," he spoke. "I remember that you said that the house was too cold. Besides," He swelled his chest up and put on a grin like their deceased father. "A Man must protect his family."

Elfman couldn't stop the tears. Archer was so much like their father, smiling in the face of misfortune. He hugged his brother like Lisanna had, taking comfort in his brother's warmth.

Archer smiled wryly, somethings never change. He stared expectantly at Mirajane. "I'm not a cry baby," she said as she huffed and turned away.

Archer placed Lisanna down, and stared Elfman, Lisanna, and Mirajane in the face. "We're going to have meat today."

* * *

Watching him return only to leave for work once again infuriated Mirajane to no end. It was the people's fault. What did her brother ever do to encourage their ire? Absolutely _nothing_.

"Mira-nee, you're making that face again," Elfman spoke demurely, shying away as Mirajane glared in response.

Elfman shut his mouth and returned to siting on the couch, excited about the prospects of a hearty meal.

"Meat meat meat!" Lisanna spoke giddily as she played with the dolls Shirou had bought for her. "Meat for me, and meat for Elf-nee and Mira-nee!"

The tension in Mirajane's shoulders lifted watching the spirit return to her siblings after many months of meager meals. She could understand as the eldest sister why Shirou worked so hard. The smiles on Lisanna and Elfman's faces, she could _easily_ relate.

Mirajane glanced down as Lisanna walked up to her and held out her favorite doll. She smiled at the notion and patted Lisanna's head before urging her to continue her playing. The time for dolls and dress-up had long since passed for her, not since her mother had died. She was content to just watch as Lisanna coerced Elfman into playing with her, the lovable dolt.

Now the only thing missing was Shirou.

She crossed her arms and sat petulantly on the couch. One day, she swore she would make this up to him; buy him the best clothes and items he _deserved_. Her eyes soon drifted onto her arm, the cause of her family's misfortune.

Opening her palm, she inspected her entire arm, turning it back and forth. A Demon's arm, or a monster's arm, in the end it didn't really matter. It was _her_ arm. Was she really a monster? She shivered, her wild emotions draining her of her energy.

"M-Mira-nee."

Mirajane looked up at Lisanna and Elfman. What was the problem?

"T-There are people outside," Elfman spoke quietly as he peered out the window.

Mirajane's blood ran cold, her eyes noticing the dull glow of orange flame. _Oh God_. T-They wouldn't. They couldn't! She was panicking and Elfman and Lisanna knew it. Her arm transformed, but she hardly noticed it in her own denial.

The flicker of embers beating against the window frame drove her into action. She was the oldest at the moment. She was the one Elfman and Lisanna were relying on, their hesitant gazes all but solidifying her assumption. Her body shook, her hands growing clammy from fear, but still the embers continued to increase. A fire was coming.

"Elfman, Lisanna, OUT OF THE HOUSE!" She yelled.

A window shattered, a rock rolling loudly across the stone floor.

* * *

Archer knocked an arrow over his bow and silently waded through the foliage of the forest. His prey was near, a large deer with its antlers yet to fully grow. He stopped and perched himself atop a tree branch, taking his time to aim.

He closed his eyes, picturing the smiles on his siblings faces as they sunk their teeth into meat. He'd make burgers, something they've never tasted before. He had the materials, the salt and pepper from his time working in the markets, and any herbs he may or may not have pilfered from his time working in the plantations.

The arrow was let loose no sooner as Archer had opened his eyes, piercing clean-through the deer's head. A quick death. A mercy.

Jumping down the tree, Archer made his way to dinner, continuing to think about ways to make his family happy. Lisanna was a simple girl who was content with the little things like toys, dolls, and flower crowns. Elfman was rather timid, but he knew the correct values in a person and didn't ask him for anything but company. Mirajane however, she was different.

Archer knelt beside the deer and quickly removed the clinging dirt and grime like his father had taught him. If only Mirajane could recall what their mother had once said.

 _Being different doesn't mean your any less, or anymore than the friends around you._

Miranjane wasn't a monster. She had just somehow performed magic, a feat normally reserved for Wizards of the world he found himself in. However, the type of magic was unique and seemed to stem from their family. He could sense it inside Mirajane, Elfman, Lisanna, and himself, each slightly different, and he would show her the first chance he got. However, he seemed to be unable to grasp _one_ thing about the particular magic. Therefore, for the time being, he would have to find a way to convince her, and a hearty meal was a good start.

One day, when he made enough money, he would get his family out of this village and into the Kingdom of Fiore. If he left with them now or in the past, they would have had nowhere to go or live. Making money as a Wizard was appealing to him, but he couldn't allow himself to leave his siblings behind. He smiled wryly as he thought back to his most recent discovery.

His siblings had strong magical cores, a concept he had grasped upon structurally analyzing them. All that was left was to teach them how to use it. One day, all of them could be Wizards. One day they would all get out of this village. The thought was invigorating.

Securing the deer onto his shoulder, he began the trek home, content to enjoy the late afternoon breeze.

* * *

His heart dropped as his breathing quickened.

His home _burned_ in the distance, the smell of smoke creating a sinking sensation in his stomach. Step after step, his body grew cold as his face revealed more of his disbelief. He had lived through war, and countless battles, but _this_. This was-

His eyes were able to see Elfman and Lisanna cowering behind Mirajane's trembling back; patches of bruised skin showing from beneath all their clothes.

His ears could hear the jeers and calls for death.

And the weight on his back all but assured that what lay before him was reality. Something snapped, a _piece_ fell into place, and suddenly he was there, an embodiment of restrained anger and fury.

The deer over his shoulder dropped callously against the ground, the thump echoing in the sudden silence his presence brought over. It unnerved those pointing pitch forks at him almost as much his gaze cowed the torch bearer carrying the flame.

"You, _all_ of you. _Monsters_ ," he spoke quietly, but all could hear the raging storm beneath his words. "Monster, witch, devil, you all called my sister." They could feel the very air shifting, forming murky images of rotating gears and malformed weapons. "You want to see a monster?"

 _I wanted to be hero once. So, no matter how tainted and buried in blood that Ideal may be, just this once-_ Archer took a step forward. - _Let me be the hero._ ' _Take Over.'_ The phrase popped inside his head. "Then I'll show you what kind of **m** o _ns_ _ **ter**_ _I_ _ **c**_ _a_ _ **n be**_."

* * *

Thanks for reading and a big thank you to my first patron Eric. I really do appreciate it.

P a treon. com (slash) Parcasious

Next update: Vasto of White

-Parcasious


	5. Family

Shirou was debating once again how the hell he got himself into these situations, but realized that the point would be moot. He glared at the vultures gathering around him, he wasn't dead damn it! And don't look so disappointed! He shooed them away with a small shout.

He had been lucky, that he was able to grab onto a floating piece of debris when the tower was destroyed, and even luckier when he drifted into a beach. However, he had done his part, he had saved them. Only his promise to join Fairy Tail was left, and he still needed to make sure they reached the guild safely, but how could he do that when he didn't even know where he was.

Once again, he was thankful that Rob was there. He knew the exact location of Fairy Tail so the others wouldn't have to spend the time searching or gathering information. Still, Rob wasn't in any shape to fend off any attackers, not that he was any better.

His shoulder stung from the injury he had sustained at sea, a chipped and sharp plank of drift wood embedded deep within his skin. His blood bled profusely, explaining his light headedness and why he was talking to animals. Breathing in, he closed his eyes and created a sword of smoldering heat with the magical energy he had left.

He clenched his teeth before pulling the drift wood out, and promptly laid the flat of the fiery red blade against his skin. He choked back a gasp as he burned his wound closed, adding to the numerous scars that ran across his body. He really did miss the perks of having Avalon, the healing and defensive sheath of King Arthur, inside him. Only remnants of its power still lingered within him, healing him of more trivial wounds, and keeping him alive from the more severe.

 _If_ he had it however, not a single scar would have been left on his body.

It was unfortunate that he couldn't create a copy in the tower, otherwise, he would have used it on the others. He really hated how it took him so long to understand how to utilize his mage craft.

He pulled the blade away and winced as he attempted to move his arm, but he paid more attention to his surroundings: A cold and desolate wasteland piled high with thick snow. His breath came out in cold wisps of fog, his lips purpling from the combination of icy water and chilling coastal winds.

Staggering onto his feet, he decided that before anything, he needed to find shelter, or at least somewhere warm.

Slowly, he began walking, the snow sinking up to his thighs and growing deeper the farther inland he went. With nothing but the rags he was supplied from the Tower of Heaven, he was left ill prepared to combat the freezing temperatures. Reinforcement could only go so far before giving out to the cold.

Frost was beginning to form over his eyelashes, his hair hopelessly matted with snow that continued to melt the closer it fell towards his scalp. At least he didn't have to worry about anymore pain, it wasn't like he could _feel_ it anyway.

A snow rabbit appeared in his sights, hopping atop the snow. His stomach growled, and he entertained the notion of hunting and cooking the thing, but decided it would take to much energy. Even still, without shelter how could he start a fire without it getting snuffed out?

He crossed his arms to conserve warmth as the ground continued to crunch beneath him. The snow was up to his waist now, and still there were no signs of any sort of unlikely settlement. It wasn't as if he expected to find one out in the harsh tundra he was in, but he believed in mankind's ability to adapt.

His eyes glazed over, his vision blurring.

 _Damn it._

"Hey,"

A voice called. He blinked his eyes, and was just barely able to mutter a response before he collapsed, covered in the snow.

* * *

Was that really her brother?

Lisanna shivered behind Mirajane's back, and Elfman was no better.

A storm raged in the sky, clouds obscuring the sun and creating looming shadows that stood in contrast to flickering flames.

Lisanna clasped her hands together and peered at her brother. He had grown, his shirt ripped to shreds by the steel of sharp blades that stemmed from his arms and legs. His face and torso were bare except for the sheen of polished metal, his eyes narrowed and bloodshot; his hair seemingly composed of steel mesh and wire.

He didn't speak. No one did. Not when the malefic aura of sheer pestilence that stemmed from her brother encroached the entire area. She was scared, frightened even. She couldn't understand, no couldn't comprehend how this could possible be her brother.

Mirajane felt Elfman and Lisanna behind her tense, but she could hardly blame them. "S-Shirou?" She called. No answer. All that she could hear was the steady rasp of his breath, the grating of steel mechanisms.

She swallowed, legs carrying her forward, yet she stopped as swords hovered in the air, forming from nothing.

It was then that her brother began to move, eyes darting from villager to villager before settling onto the torch bearer and-

She covered Lisanna's eyes and shoved Elfman's head down as the man fell over screaming, the torch in his hand snuffed out by his very own blood. The blow had been quick, something that she couldn't even see, but it was blunt and forceful enough to drive the man careening into the stiff necked-crowd, his torch arm bent at an odd angle. Her gaze lowered to his legs, but she quickly turned away, denying all that she had just seen.

"M-Mira-nee?" Elfman called. He hadn't seen what had happened, yet he could clearly hear it.

"Just don't look up Elfman, _please_ ," she replied.

He wasn't dead, was he? She didn't want to look again, but it was enough for her that she could still hear his pained groans. The bruise on her left arm stung, Lisanna trying to pry her hand away from her face. "Stop!" She snapped at Lisanna. This was for her own good.

Lisanna froze, Mira-nee had never yelled at her before, and never so insistently. She could hear the screaming, the groans just out of sight. Why wasn't she allowed to see? She wanted to see; she needed to see if her big brother was alright. She struggled futilely, her actions drawing a restrained hiss from her older sister.

"Lisanna!" Mirajane yelled. Why couldn't she be more like Elfman and listen to her in this situation? She shivered as she stared at Shirou.

There was no malice, nor purpose in his gaze. It was just a simple detached look, neither good nor evil, neutral if anything. Like a sword whose purpose was decided by its wielder. He strode forward, one step then two.

The swords that hovered around him spun horizontally on an internal axis, forming drills that pointed specifically at each individual villager. Even from where she was standing, she could hear the buzz of displaced air in wake of the sword's angular velocity. She had no doubts about their intended purpose.

 _Don't, don't do it,_ she pleaded. Regardless if she felt they deserved it, life shouldn't be taken lightly.

Their eyes met, and for a fraction of a second she had seen his hesitance, but that was it. With a single swing of his arm, the hovering swords launched at their intended targets.

The crowd screamed, cowering back as the swords bore holes adjacent to their legs. Mirajane could only sigh in relief before she realized she had taken her eyes off of Shirou. And that was all it took.

One moment he was there, the next a wave of flying bodies. He had jumped into the crowd, she realized, and then begun to swing, bat, and charge at anyone who carried a weapon. Mr. Marcy who lashed Elfman with his whip, Mrs. Conaly who beat them with rocks, and even Sarah Conrad who lashed out at Lisanna for standing out for her, all of them were defeated as easily as cracking an egg.

O God. She brought a hand over her mouth, and quickly realized her error.

Elfman still had his gaze obediently down, but Lisanna?

It was too late. To her horror, Lisanna was staring pale-faced at the carnage around her: The injured, the weeping, and the cruelty.

At the center, Shirou held a villager, Thomas Malthus, the instigator of the whole mess, by the neck with one hand. He had already hated the Strauss family after a grudge with the deceased father, and had jumped at the chance to ruin his family. Fist after fist beat down relentlessly over him, blood spilling over the ground after each sickening thud.

"S-Sto-"

Thomas's voice went unheard. He already found it hard to breath, his nose broken, and face beginning to swell as tears rolled down his cheeks.

Although horror stricken, Mirajane didn't move.

 _They deserved it._ Her eyes lingered on the bruises and small welts that covered Lisanna's arms and legs. She couldn't even begin to imagine what it looked like beneath her dress. But still…

As for Lisanna, everything was simply a nightmare.

She didn't know what to do. She had been so _excited_ about just getting to eat meat again after four weeks of whatever Shirou-nii could scrounge. And then everything happened so quickly from there. Someone had thrown a stone through their window again, but she was used to that. It was the fact that there had been a crowd outside that had scared her. It had never happened before. She couldn't even begin to explain how she felt when a torch set her home ablaze. Mirajane's panicked yells and Elfman's denials did little to set her worries aside.

Despite it all, Mirajane had saved them from burning within the house, but things just didn't end. As soon as Mirajane had stepped out of the house, and as soon as the people saw her arm, chaos had ensued. They had dragged Elfman and her away from Mirajane before proceeding to beat her with sticks and stones. She and Elfman had charged in after the torch bearer attempted to burn Mirajane, but they did little more than earn their own beatings.

Shirou-nii, where was he?! They would never do something like this if he was here.

The villagers didn't speak of it, but they were always wary of the eldest Strauss. He had been the one to kill the monster in the church by himself and he was able to hunt alone. It would normally take four or five men just to kill a simple deer, and keep it from running away. But the eldest Strauss was able to hunt consistently by himself which spoke of his skill.

And then, and then Shirou-nii had arrived, a deer hung loosely over his shoulder. All hell broke loose from there, which led to the present.

Lisanna staggered forward, eyes drawn to the form of her brother. What had he become? And what had happened to the brother she knew? She couldn't stare at the numerous bodies that lay scattered around her, not when she knew it was the fault of her brother.

She was trembling, her legs about to collapse beneath her, but it was watching her brother loom over Sarah Conrad after tossing Thomas away that broke her out of her shell.

 _She couldn't breath._

"N-No!" Lisanna pushed forward, blocking Archer's path. "Shirou-nii isn't like this!" She cried, eyes closed. "H-He's kind, he's smart, he's caring," tears were dripping down from her eyes; each word she uttered reducing the number of blades that covered Archer's arms and legs.

The red began to leave Archer's vision. What had he been doing? His gaze glanced at the forms of the fallen, realization dawning.

 _Retribution._

But at what cost? He was the eldest, the one his siblings looked up to. What image had he painted with his actions?

A horrid one based on how hard Lisanna was crying.

"He plays with me, smiles at me, gives me toys," she continued, cheeks growing puffy, and her head bowed low. "H-He looks for work, he feeds us, d-does our laundry," she hiccupped. "A-And he's my big brother who-"

A pair of arms wrapped around Lisanna. "I'm sorry," Archer spoke, his form back to normal. He cupped the back of Lisanna's head and pressed her face into his shoulder. "I, I…"

Lisanna wrapped her arms around her brother, wrapping herself in his warmth. This was her big brother, her stupid selfless brother. The one who would come home dirty and clothes torn, but with the biggest smile on his face as he picked her up before moving on to ruffle Mirajane's hair and fist bump Elfman. The one who would go deep into the dark forest to go hunting when food was low, and even then, hardly ate any of it. Her grip tightened, she didn't want to let him go.

Mirajane and a Elfman tentatively stepped forward before losing to their own urges.

 _Four orphans, four siblings, stood huddled, arms drawing each other close._

Archer pulled his siblings in, his eyes glaring at the villagers that remained, daring them to try anything. His glare alone was enough to send them thoroughly running, the terror coursing through their veins sending chills down their spines. _He could kill them now, save his family the trouble._ He shook his head to remove such tempting thoughts and instead focused on his family.

At this point, there was only one thing on his mind. He glanced down at his siblings and tried to lift their spirits by smiling gently, but even he could feel that it was strained.

He stared up at the ashes of his home, and clenched his fists. All those years of hard work, and tedious labour, all for nothing. The Strauss siblings were now homeless.

It didn't matter anymore if they were ready, or if they were not. Patting them on their shoulders, he slowly began leading them away towards the distant hills, to the far-off town of Magnolia.

Elfman looked back and forth from the village to the road ahead, his brows furrowed in worry, and Archer answered his unasked question.

"We're getting out of this village."

* * *

Thanks for reading and Merry Christmas!

Next Update: Fate In-Time

P a treon. com (slash) Parcasious

-Parcasious


	6. Prelude to the Frigid North

They called it the Northern Lands of chilling winds. Where the ice and snow fell endlessly in soft flakes, or hard hail that could reach the size of a man's fist.

There were no roads out in the mountains.

And there was no infrastructure except for the remote villages that thrived adjacent to the thin ice of frozen great lakes.

Arctic fish were the commodity. Trapped deep within the frozen lakes, there was no shortage of them as the particular species reproduced multiple times in a year. Purple backs, they were called. Resembling cod, they lived by feeding off the small crustaceans found near the lake's bottom.

Despite the harsh conditions, people _lived_ in the north.

With hardly any communications with the rest of the world, the habitants lived a trying, but happy life. That is, until the day the _Demon_ came.

Deliora of the Ice Fields. A dark-blue behemoth larger than the twelve-foot homes of the Northern Lands. With large arms that end in scaly hands, bird like feet, and a series of spikes around his neck and shoulders, he stood ominously above all who would oppose him.

He came from within the deep snow of the plains. Rising from the blanket of white, he spread destruction wherever he went. His steps shook the mountains, his unrelenting gaze boring down on all who would oppose him, he was truly the _Terror of the North._

And it seems as if he's destroyed another one.

A woman clicked her tongue as she watched her newest resident sleeping peacefully from beneath thick and heavy quilts: A red-haired boy with a round face and a narrowed chin who was perhaps a year or so older than her own students.

 _Which village did he come from?_

She didn't know, nor did she want to imagine how many people had died, trampled, their bodies left frozen beneath the ice. A strand of her dark-purple bangs fell between her eyes. She quickly brushed it back behind her ear, but simply gave up when it refused to remain there. She breathed out slowly and relaxed herself into her chair. It didn't matter, her hair was normally unkempt anyway, cascading down her face and covering her ears with only a few strands falling down from her temple.

Her name was Ur, a mage of the creation magic of ice. As such, she wore light clothing in the cold weather: A short tan-jacket with a dark brown collar and cuff, and two breast pockets, along with a maroon tube top, a metal buckled belt, and black jeans.

Anyways, she stood up and once again went over to a pail of warm water where she quickly dipped a dry cloth. Straining the water out, she pulled the quilts away from the boy and began to wipe down his body. She hadn't noticed when she had first found him near-frozen in the snow, but his injuries were truly severe. In fact, if the cold hadn't frozen his wounds and stopped the bleeding, he may have had died from blood loss alone.

Deliora.

The name echoed within her head. How many more children will you leave stranded? How many more people's lives will you ruin?

She swallowed as she pressed gently around a particularly nasty wound on the boy's chest. A scar of sorts that didn't have the chance to fester into something horrid. The boy would have to be thankful for his luck.

Finished cleaning, she brought the quilts back over the boy's body, and once again sat on her chair to keep watch. It was all she could really do for him, that and hope the boy had the will to wake up.

Clasping her hands, she pursed her lips as she recalled a bitter and distant memory.

It was of another child wrapped warmly in blankets, but suffering nonetheless, and a useless mother who could do nothing but watch.

The ticking wall clock was the only noise in the room.

The stillness, reflecting self pity and regret.

"Ur," Lyon Bastia, one of Ur's students stood awkwardly by a half-opened door. He had spiked silver hair with a couple long strands that ran down from his forehead. On his body, he wore a light blue jacket and dark jeans. "I'm sorry to bother you, but Gray's-" he paused, eyes slightly widening.

Ur took a moment to realize what Lyon was looking at before sighing and releasing the tenseness of her muscles. "It's alright Lyon, I was just thinking." Her knuckles that had grown pale from gripping tightly on her chair's arm-rests relaxed as Ur adopted a pleasant smile. "Now what is Gray up to this time."

"Ugh yes! He's spouting nonsense about searching for Deliora again," Lyon spoke.

Ur narrowed her eyes as she stood up and made her way towards the door. O Gray, she couldn't allow his hatred to take him over. She couldn't allow his pain and fear to cloud his judgement. "The little brat needs another lesson, does he?" She cracked her knuckles and grinned. "I'll be more than happy to hammer some sense into his brain." Ruffling Lyon's hair as she passed, she quickly asked Lyon to watch over their injured guest.

Watching Ur leave, Lyon took her place on the chair, and stared absently at the boy they found frozen in the snow.

The boy was lucky that Ur was able to save him. Lyon had no doubts of Ur's ability. She was the strongest. And he was her student.

Still, he really wished he could continue practicing, but first he would have to wait for this boy to wake up as Ur's time was being preoccupied.

He crossed his arms and resigned himself to waiting.

Meanwhile,

Ur made her way to the front of her house and watched as Gray Fullbuster, her second student, continued his training outside in the frigid cold. An Ice Mage's paradise.

Gray, the young brat with black and spikey unkempt hair, and an unending desire to defeat Deliora. He wore a thick white-winter coat with fur linings around the hood, and a pair of jeans Ur remembered buying off from a friend whose son had out grown them.

His form was wrong.

His breathing was uneven.

His creation magic still lacking in creativity.

And he was spouting nonsense about defeating Deliora at his level?

Revenge was blinding him, the death of his parents, and the destruction of his village his sole motivation. It was wrong for a brat, her _student_ , to have such empty eyes.

Her legs took the initiative, walking her out the front door of her house, and marching her to stand straight right behind Gray.

He was earnest at least. His work and dedication far outshining even Lyon's natural talents.

She hadn't been noticed yet, Ur observed. Taking the time to observe more of Gray's flaws, she pinched the bridge of her nose and closed her eyes before opening them in determination. Stepping out, she stood beside him, and took her stance: her legs parted shoulder width, and her arms drawn back with a single fist over one palm.

"Ice-Make," she could feel Gray's gaze on her, watching her form fiercely and adjusting his own. Good, just as intended. A blue magic circle appeared clasped between her hands, a cold frosted mist emanating from her center. "Shield!"

She thrust out, ice spewing from the center of her circle, transmitting into the air, and willing the ice beneath her feet to propel itself forward in large interlocked spires. A simple, but durable shield of ice formed before her. She turned towards Gray. "If you can't even do this, what hope do you have to defeat Deliora?" She goaded.

A change occurred within Gray's eyes, his defiance showing.

Ur smiled before kneeling and placing a hand over Gray's shoulder. "You can't rush these things, Gray. They will come to you in time."

"I don't have time!" Gray refused to admit defeat.

 _Fiery willed brat._ Ur ruffled Gray's hair before she stood up and walked a short distance away from him. Crossing her arms beneath her breasts, she grinned. "Then show me," she challenged.

"J-Just wait and you'll see!" Gray rushed into his forms. He wasn't Lyon who had the talent, but he had the promise he had made to his father. He would be a man to be proud of.

Ur shook her head as she watched Gray performing.

His magic was fluctuating, his body's protest to his hours of training.

There was no doubt within Ur's mind, Gray was definitely forcing things.

"Ice-Make," Gray spoke with purpose, his hands ready to thrust forward. He was ready to prove Ur wrong. He had the ability. He could defeat Deliora, and avenge his parents. "Shield!"

His arms parted to his side as he released his magic.

Ur's eyes widened as she spotted a shield forming in front of Gray. To be able to form one in his state of exhaustion, it was already impressive, but-

A crack appeared within the shield, followed by another.

-It would never hold in the face of a lack of magic supply.

The shield burst, sending Gray flying back.

She didn't speak a word even as her gaze met Gray's. She didn't need to. He would understand what she would have wanted.

Suddenly, Lyon burst out from the house. "He's waking up!" He called urgently, causing both Gray and Ur to blink in surprise.

Meanwhile with Shirou.

He didn't know where he was, just that he was thankful that it wasn't so cold anymore.

Blinking his eyes open, he realized that he was lying on a bed, heavy quilts over his body.

Taking a good look at the sparsely decorated room, he deduced that he was in a guest room. The only furniture inside other than the bed, were a few chairs, a bedside table, and a sliding drawer to store clothing.

Grunting as he pulled off the thick quilts, he sat up just as Ur, Gray, and Lyon entered through the door.

"I didn't expect that you'd be up so soon," Ur spoke as she brought a warm glass of hot chocolate. "To heat yourself up," she rationalized as she extended it towards Shirou.

"Thank you," Shirou spoke, accepting Ur's generosity. Bringing the glass to his lips, he relished the feeling of warmth that travelled throughout his body. "I'm Shirou," he introduced himself after gently setting the cup of hot chocolate down on a bedside table.

"Ur, Ice mage of the North."

"Lyon, Ur's student."

"Gray, also Ur's student."

The three made their introductions one after the other. It was Ur however, who asked the question that was within all their minds. "What happened to you?"

Shirou frowned in contemplation. They didn't need to know about what had happened in the Tower, all it would do was add another weight on their shoulders. So instead, he decided to go with a half truth. "I got lost after barely getting away from a disaster," he spoke.

Ur nodded. She didn't have to ask to know that it was probably the work of Deliora. "For now," she spoke, motioning towards the room. "Make yourself at home."

"Thank you," Shirou spoke back gratefully, letting his body lie back down onto the bed. "I just might take you up on that offer."

 _And now there's another brat to look after._ Ur lead Gray and Lyon out of the room and decided that it was time to finally start training again. "Lyon," she pointed towards him. "Get dressed and get outside."

Eye's brightening, Lyon quickly followed instructions.

"Now Gray," her eyes carried a hint of amusement. "Back to your room."

"But-"

Ur shook her head. "No buts. This is what happens when you train recklessly by yourself."

Gray glared, his arms subconsciously crossing in defiance.

Ur's mood lightened. "If you go now, I promise that when you're rested we can both go train together."

Gray pondered, eyes closing in thought, before he nodded his head. "It's a promise," he spoke. "And you better keep it."

"Cheeky brat, when have you known me to back out of a promise? Now go." Ur shewed Gray away.

Ur stood with her arms leaning against her hips, watching as Gray disappeared behind the corner to his room. Good. If anything, he still had a good set of ears on his head. Now for Lyon. She smiled as she stripped down to her training gear, a green bra coupled with a pair of green underpants. Now, it was time for some practice.

* * *

After once again sinking up to his waist in snow, Shirou could finally admit to getting used to the frigid cold of the Northern environment. "A little help?" he sighed dejectedly before ice began to form beneath his feet and pushed him to level ground.

Ur smiled as she absently swung the sack of arctic cod she had fished from the hole created in the nearby frozen lake behind her back.

Tapping her foot twice on the ground, all the light snow around Shirou hardened to prevent a repeat of the earlier circumstance.

"Thank you," Shirou said. "Ice magic is pretty handy," he stated, watching as Ur simply glided on the ice without any visible strain.

"It takes practice," Ur said before snickering as the snow beneath Gray's feet gave out on him. "You have to concentrate your magic on the snow in contact with your feet," she lectured to Gray. "Look at Lyon."

Gray just huffed as he stabilized himself.

Ice magic was a caster type magic, meaning that the magic was expelled from the body to be utilized through various means. In Ur's case, it was to manipulate ice and form it into numerous creations fueled by her own imagination: Ice-Make magic.

"Now come on," Ur urged. "Although these fish won't spoil quickly in the cold, I'd much rather eat them at their freshest."

The entire group had spent half the day walking to restock their supply of fish, and to train Lyon and Gray further in their magic. Which would explain why they were forced to wear just their boxers in the cold conditions as they were learning to be Ice Mages like Ur.

The snow packing underfoot, the group soon found their way back to the remote cabin by the base of a mountain called Hellen. It was where Shirou had been resting for the past few days to recover his energy, and was also located a couple miles out from the nearest village of Dale.

The village of Dale was small with various buildings made from wood cut down from trees that revealed themselves in the hotter seasons when the snow melted. Other parts were more industrialized, made from stone and metal. Its people were light-spirited, not letting the cold hamper their everyday lives, and as such, Shirou couldn't understand why Ur lived away from them. She had friends there, he had seen her interacting with the people when they went shopping for basic necessities like the clothes he found himself wearing: a thick fur coat lined with sea lion hide, and a pair of insulated pants.

On one such trip, when he had accompanied her while Gray and Lyon stayed behind to practice, he heard the villagers talking amongst themselves. Whispering discreetly, but not enough to avoid the sound entering his trained ears.

They were pitying her.

Talking about how unfortunate she was to undergo such a horrid circumstance? He was clearly missing something, yet he didn't have enough time to ponder as Ur had lead him back to the cabin.

She had been silent, eyes adamantly pointed forward, and not once taking a look back.

If there was anything Shirou had learned by living with the woman, it was that she was strong. Not just physically, but mentally.

As the group arrived at the door of the cabin, Ur fiddled around in her pockets and produced a small key which she then used to promptly click open the lock.

She stared at Lyon and Gray before placing down the sack of fish. "No more training for now. We have to make sure to gut the fish first so that we can safely preserve the rest."

Shirou raised his hand sheepishly. "Uhm," he began tentatively. "If you'd let me, I could handle that," he spoke. It didn't feel right to continually impose on them without doing anything back in return. At least with cooking, and matters concerning food, he had the utmost confidence.

"You know how to gut fish?" Ur asked surprised. She didn't think it was something most people raised in villages knew how to do as most of their food came provided through the markets by hunters.

"I know more than just gutting," his voice was gaining its confidence. "Let me take care of the meal today. Besides, it would give you more time to train with Gray and Lyon."

Gray nodded his head, appreciative of Shirou's sentiments just as much as Lyon was. They both treasured the time they spent learning with Ur.

Ur leveled a discerning eye on Shirou before tossing him a fish and a small cutting knife. "Let's see what you got," she grinned.

Not to disappoint, Shirou quickly cut into the fish's mid-section, and utilizing his culinary skills and the history he had glimpsed from the knife, promptly gutted the fish's innards, leaving behind the edible meat. "Happy?" He asked.

Ur grunted. "Just pleasantly surprised," she said. Scratching her head, she looked between Shirou and her two students before coming to a decision. "I guess we can take you up on that offer."

"It will be my pleasure. I'll call you when I have everything done."

Shirou felt a pat on his shoulder.

"Thanks," Lyon spoke earnestly, and even Gray gave him a reluctant nod.

For Gray, the more training he got, the better. Deliora had killed his parents, and destroyed his home and village. Nothing occupied his mind more than avenging them. But perhaps even more pressing than his need to grow stronger, was the fear that Deliora would come and once again take everything away from him: Ur, Lyon, and the life he had built around them. He couldn't let it happen, _never again_.

Gray quickly followed after Ur and Lyon as they went to practice outside the house, leaving Shirou alone.

Humming, Shirou got to work with his task.

He didn't know how long he was planning on staying in the Northern lands, but he knew there was only one reason why he chose to remain. He had his promise to meet up with Erza, Jellal, and the rest at Fairy Tail, but even more than that, he was concerned about the circumstance of his saviours.

Deliora, the Terror of the North. A demon terrorizing the local villages in the area.

He had seen the fire in Gray's eyes, and the apprehension in Ur's. From word of mouth, it wasn't difficult for him to determine that Deliora had the potential to appear in the nearby vicinity, and that itself was what was troubling.

Gray _hated_ Deliora, but it didn't take much to notice that he _feared_ him just as much. Regardless, he had no illusions about what would happen should Deliora appear, Gray would charge in like a moth to a flame.

He had heard stories of Deliora's power, of how unsurpassable it was. Either way, he had to see if there was anything he could do, otherwise he'd have to leave with a bitter taste in his mouth.

Idly, he placed the gutted fish off to the corner of the kitchen where a small freezer was kept surrounded by packed snow and ice to maintain the cold temperature.

He smiled as he was now in his element, his forte. A frying pan soon found its way into his hands, followed by an apron, herbs, and spices as Shirou got battle ready to cook.

An hour or so later, Ur, Lyon, and Gray sat around a small table as Shirou laid out the dishes before them. He hadn't been able to make anything fancy with the fish and the food they had on hand, but he was confident that it tasted good.

Ur rose a brow as she fiddled absently with the food on her plate using a fork. "You," she eyed him thoughtfully, "made this?" She asked, eyes roaming across the table-top.

Shirou simply nodded, watching how Ur's eyes kept drifting to Gray, or Lyon, waiting for them to take the first bite.

Gray was first, his stomach growling. He cut off a thin slice of fish with his knife, and brought it to his mouth with his fork.

Lyon and Ur discreetly waited for his input, but got nothing in response as Gray only continued eating at a faster pace.

The master and remaining student shared a look before they both brought a spoonful of food to their lips.

Ur chewed slowly, letting the flavour spread throughout her mouth before she swallowed, ending the experience.

She stared bewildered at her empty spoon as Lyon swatted away Gray's reaching hands. No doubt Gray wanted more after finishing his portions. A warning was imperative at this point as the senior in the room. "No one _touches_ my plate," she warned.

She gave Shirou a simple thumb's up before she dug into her food, not noticing how Shirou served more portions to Gray and Lyon. But she _did_ notice when he began to do the same for her. How thoughtful.

She laughed as Lyon froze Gray's feet to the floor to get the last serving of food before she realized: Lyon was taking the _last_ portion of food _._ Grinning, she then froze Lyon to his chair and promptly swiped the food from his hands. Besides, she was the oldest. She _needed_ the most food.

It didn't matter if both of them were giving her defeated looks. She was the King of the table.

"If you guys liked it that much, I can cook again tomorrow?" Shirou said hesitantly. He had seen people eat his cooking before, but he had never had such a reaction. Maybe it was because he only ever remembered cooking the majority of his past life for a lion-like woman and her unsatiable stomach.

He received a round of nods, at least he would be busy in the morning.

Cleaning off the various dishes after a lively dinner, Shirou soon found himself wandering within the halls of the warm cabin. Gray and Lyon had turned in for the night, exhausted after the day's activities, and Ur had gone to watch after them as they fell asleep. Despite her hard and strong willed exterior, she was a doting teacher who had grown to view her students as her own children. However, Shirou didn't miss how her eyes would wander towards a single empty room within the house, and that was where Shirou was going.

Ur had never forbid him from entering any room, nor had she explicitly laid down any rules of any kind for him. She was his benefactor, the one who had pulled him away from freezing buried beneath the snow. The least he could do for her was to understand what it was that was troubling her so much that she refused to acknowledge it.

He knew he was prying, and he was being highly insensitive and untrustworthy, but there were times when one must act. Take for example if you had a friend that you knew needed help, but continually refused to deny it for the sake of those around them, they would _never_ be saved. Ur was one of those people. For Lyon, and for Gray, she had placed aside her own troubles and took solace in her efforts to raise and teach them.

She was a stubborn individual who acted more like a man at times than a woman. Just as most men would never go out of their way to express their feelings and troubles to others, Ur was the same. Why should another have to carry the burden meant solely for the individual? Why should one's problems involve others who have had no part in the mistake?

The answer was obvious to people like Ur, and even himself. _They shouldn't_.

He supposed he and Ur had similarities. In fact, just the thought of others getting hurt, or troubled because of him caused an intense feeling of loathing to form at the pit of his stomach. Yet they were still different. Ur was a _person_ , while he was simply a _sword_. A tool meant to be used for the purpose of saving others for an ideal he knew could never be accomplished. Nonetheless, it was his dream, and one that he'd never give up on so long as he breathed.

Therefore, between Ur and himself, regardless of Ur's thoughts, he would much rather lend his aid.

He strode forward towards the room at the end of the hall with purpose. It was dim, the only light coming from a window allowing the setting sun's rays to brighten the surroundings in a dull orange.

Unfalteringly, he stopped at the entrance of the room, and slowly twisted the nob open. The wood groaned in response, the creaking of the hinges echoing throughout the empty hallway.

He stepped inside the room.

If he could put any words into what he saw, it would be _Love_. A deep compassion filled love that warmed the heart. The room was filled with a child's belongings. Stuffed toys, picture books, drawing utensils, and even a whole wall decorated in mixed colours of paint splotches.

It was undoubtedly a young girl's room.

He could even imagine the child playing happily, hands wet with paint as she decorated her own walls.

And Ur, she was the kind of mother who would allow such activities. But then, what had happened to the owner of the room?

He felt a chill run down his back, comprehension dawning on his features.

The reason why the villagers would pity her.

The reason why Ur was told more than once that she could still pursue her own happiness.

It was beginning to make sense.

Yet Ur wasn't one to take another's pity. Rather, she would push through with her own determination, and not show one shred of doubt in her actions.

He wet his suddenly dry lips and continued wandering within the room. Off to the side, there was a small crib laid out with pink blankets and a revolving toy hanging from the crib's shelf.

From the amount of dust scattered throughout the room, on the small dresser, on the over head table, and on the rows of stuffed toys and children's books, it was clear that no one had cleaned the chamber in a long time.

It was then that the soft creaking of the door he had closed behind him alerted him of another presence.

"You shouldn't have gone into this room," Ur spoke as she sighed, then promptly closed the door behind her. "It," she hesitated. "It contains some very important memories."

"I can tell," Shirou spoke, staring at the only photo in the room. A picture of Ur and a small baby wrapped in a white thick-bundle of soft cloth. "She must have meant the world to you."

Ur didn't respond, her eyes closed with her fists trembling from how hard she was squeezing them.

Shirou didn't take notice and instead focused his attention on the piles of documents scattered throughout the room. Prescriptions, recommendations, all of them spoke of how desperate Ur had been. "She was sick, and you had tried everything," he spoke softly, running on his own assumptions proven right by Ur's next actions.

Pursing her lips, Ur slackened her grip and walked around to pick up the old photo. "The doctors had never seen anything like it. A child sick because of her own magical power."

It was like a balloon. It could only be filled by so much air until it stretched beyond its capabilities and exploded.

"I-If it wasn't treated, it would have killed her as she grew older," Ur continued, running a trembling hand over the image of the baby in the photo.

Shirou frowned in response. In a sense, he could understand as he knew someone with a similar circumstance, but that was through the machinations and tampering of a third party. Naturally, the body should adapt to the power born within it, growing stronger with age. That, and the constitution of Mages was different from that of a regular magus due to the nature of their magic vessels.

He walked around the room, staring at all the drawings in crayon stuck onto the walls with tape. They were stick figures drawn with the clumsiness of adolescent hands, and many of them had a single 'Momma's the Greatest!' bubbled in near the top. Others had a simple 'I love you' written beneath sketches of two smiling stick figures holding hands.

Ur swallowed the lump forming in her throat, and turned her sights away from Shirou.

"Makes you want to laugh, doesn't it," she spoke pitifully. "A woman who couldn't even protect her only child."

"No, it doesn't." Shirou sighed, picking up a small locket and placing it within Ur's hands. "All I see is a woman still blaming herself, and lost in her own grief."

"You wouldn't understand." Ur cradled the locket, clicking it open to reveal a photo of a family of three: Her deceased husband, her deceased daughter, and _her_ the only one still left alive. "They had meant everything to me."

Her eyes were downcast, her shoulders slumped.

Shirou swallowed before pressing on. "And you mean everything to Lyon and Gray. They depend on you," he said.

 _Little brats._ A wry smile came over Ur's face. She hadn't thought that Shirou was old enough to be giving advise, but if anything, he was smart for his age.

Picking up a loose document, Shirou raised a brow. The document was a recommendation of sorts by a physician claiming to know of a cure within a certain institute in a far away land. Based on how crinkled and stained the paper was, the particular topic must have been something Ur had continually fell back on. "Did they end up finding a cure?" He asked curiously.

"No, but magic doctors would come by from a renowned institution to conduct tests and maintenance to ease her pain."

"Is that so?" Shirou spoke uncertainly, eyes catching a glimpse of _something_.

Drawing near to the back wall, it was there propped up beside a drawer, that he found his answer.

"Is that?" He drew closer to the blade-like object before he picked it up, his eyes widening.

"That's what they used to measure her rampant magical power," Ur informed bitterly. "Said that by resting the blade's tip over her skin that it would drain away the excess, yet there was too much and they had no choice but to take her to find a cure."

" _No_ ," Shirou spoke harshly, glancing fiercely at Ur. "That's _not_ what this does."

The accusation caused a cold feeling to swell from within Ur's heart, like a snake constricting its coils. _What?_ "H-How would you know that?!" Her voice was rising, a tinge of panic lacing its higher notes; the agitation beginning to affect her.

No words would be fast enough to make her understand. Instead Shirou simply raised a palm, and an exact copy of the blade like object manifested into existence. "I'm a mage," he revealed grimly. "My magic allows me to understand the function of this tool, no _weapon_." _Allowing complete understanding of a weapon's history: Each and every owner through Structural Analysis, an ability to instantly perceive objects._

It was by this time that Lyon and Gray burst into the room, woken up by the sense of urgency in Ur's voice.

"You said that your daughter was sick because of her magical power," Shirou continued, this time drawing everyone's attention. "This blade is an _amplifier_."

 _No,_ Ur denied, her strength leaving her body. _No, it can't be!_

Shirou tossed the blade over to Lyon after releasing the hidden safety within the blade's hilt through alteration, a skill that allowed him to change the properties of any object. "Send a flow of magic within the blade and see what happens," he spoke.

Lyon nodded, and quickly did as instructed, mouth gaping as a blade of ice double his height quickly emerged.

His mouth dried, his worried gaze turning slowly towards Ur. Gray was much the same, even the glare in his eyes had softened.

Ur, she had fallen on her knees, her bangs covering her eyes. They didn't know what to say. She had always been a strong-willed woman, and to see such a change within her, they were at a complete loss.

"On top of that, are you familiar with a man named Brain?" Shirou continued. He needed to get the point across, and could think of nothing else but to disclose the history he had found within the blade. Particularly of Brain, its creator, and the atrocities he had learned about the man. His gaze hardened as he realized what truly happened to Ur's daughter.

Ur swallowed, and nodded her head. He had been the leader of the Bureau of Magical Development, the world's forerunner in magical dealings and abnormalities, and the one who told her of her daughter's death.

" _A body too ravaged to look at,_ " Shirou whispered.

Ur froze, a memory flashing across her mind. Of a woman in turmoil unable to bring herself to doubt the words of a man in charge of one of the world's largest institutes despite many months of pleading for a body.

Ur couldn't breath, her face going blank before it all erupted in a storm of self-loathing. "Damn it!" She punched the ground. " _Damn it!_ " Again, and again, and again, tears were forming within her eyes. _"DAAMN IT!"_ She began to sob as any mother would.

She wasn't a fool. She could understand what Shirou was implying, and she hated it. Those _bastards_. Why didn't she notice it? She blamed herself. It didn't matter if she had been in an emotional state of disarray. She should have _noticed_ that something was wrong.

There was no way Shirou could be lying to her either. Every word he said made sense, and they were only things that she would know.

 _Could she already be dead?_ Its already been over two years since she had entrusted her to the institute to find a cure.

Her conclusions were obvious, as they were heart wrenching. _There was just no way_.

She wanted to scream, the panic at the pit of her stomach evolving into something much much more as she fell deeper and deeper into despair with a single most prevalent thought.

 _She'd failed as a mother_.

"Ur," Gray tentatively stepped forward, but faltered when no other words came out of his mouth. What was he supposed to say? He had known how Ur had felt about her daughter, going as far as yelling at Lyon when he asked if he was enough to replace her. There was just nothing he could do.

A bitter taste was forming within Shirou's mouth as he watched the woman who had saved him realizing the extent of how far she was deceived. He couldn't take it anymore. "You shouldn't give up yet," he spoke out, making sure Ur had heard him.

 _What?_ Ur looked up to reveal a pale face and eyes that frankly looked dead to the world.

Lyon and Gray forced down their unease, and instead looked to Shirou as Ur had, waiting for whatever it was he had to say.

To Ur, his words were like a beacon of light, a line of hope. Even if she had her doubts about the authenticity of Shirou's claims they were _too_ accurate to merely brush aside.

Before she realized it, she was holding Shirou in a vice-like grip, cold mist emanating off her skin. She didn't speak, no words were necessary to understand the pain beneath her dilated black pupils. An answer, _anything_ was all she needed.

A moment passed.

And then another, the sounds of wind beating against the cabin echoing within the room.

Shirou hardened his resolve. Wincing as he felt his shoulders groaning in protest, he spoke one bold answer in the silence.

"Because your daughter may be alive."

* * *

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 **-A side note: The last portion of this chapter was written while listening to Tsuioku Mezameru Tamashii, and Kanashiki Kako**


	7. The Demon in the North Part 1

He didn't know exactly how to describe what kind of emotion he had seen flash across her eyes at that moment. Anger? Sorrow? Grief? _Hope_? He couldn't tell, only that it had lasted for but a fleeting instant.

The sound of her breath.

The sudden stillness of the frost forming in the air.

And the trembling of her lips.

The hands clutching his shoulders tightened before all of a sudden, the pressure was gone.

Ur stood up, walking silently past both Gray and Lyon, and stopping by the door frame. "I need to think somethings through," she spoke softly, her voice barely even audible. The sound no greater than a whisper, but it was enough.

He watched unblinking: The figure of that trembling back as it disappeared behind a closing door.

She had left without a single question.

It wasn't that she didn't believe him, but because she wasn't in a state to act rationally.

The tightening of her knuckles, the hollowness of her face, all were seen by him directly.

She had asked, and he had answered.

And that was all that was needed.

Words alone could be conveyed at a later point, but actions cannot be taken back regardless of the consequence.

He had felt it more than seen it. The hesitance in her self restraint.

He had no doubts, she had immediately harboured the notion of leaving to search right there and then in that moment the words had left his mouth. But—

His gaze fell-over Gray and Lyon.

Things were never that easy.

He sucked in a breath, and then promptly released it after a moment, meeting the questioning gazes of Gray and Lyon, yet he shook his head in light of the following questions that came out of their mouths. It simply wasn't the right time.

Gesturing slightly, he eventually managed to convince them to save the topic for the following days.

And what a topic it was. Not only because of self-denial and suspicion, but because it was simply too hard to believe that what he was saying was the truth. That he could so readily know exactly what happened to Ur's missing daughter. Regardless, _hope_ was planted, a seedling given life after further demonstrations of his mage craft, to them what they believed as his magic.

Of course, at that point, Ur could no longer tolerate to stay idle not knowing what kind of danger her daughter could be in.

She packed her things without hesitation, and together the small group of four set out across the Northern lands.

Heads lowered against the heavy snow, they moved from town to town, often living in make-shift tents or small buildings of ice.

Each town they passed were towns Ur had previously brought her daughter, Ultear, to be checked by physicians, and if anything, it could potentially provide them some leads. After all, Ur had already heard that the facility she had sent Ultear to be treated was no longer active, having already been shut down and destroyed. Ultear was smart, she had always been from a young age, and therefore Ur had believed that Ultear may have returned to one of the towns.

Sighing in disappointment once again, Ur lead the group to the next town, the last place she had been with Ultear on their way to the facility she had been sent to.

The group walked in general silence, stopping at times when Ur decided to train Gray and Lyon in their magic. Frankly, it was also the only times Shirou, Gray, and Lyon have ever seen her smile in the past few weeks. Nowadays, she had a strong look of concentration on her face, her brows constantly knit together as she kept watch for predators in the night as Gray and Lyon slept. He was no exception, and he did his best to help her as much as possible.

From the information that he had gleamed from the blade, all that he knew was that Utlear had been taken through the machinations of a man named Brain. That was as far as the blade's history went since it was a mass-produced product invented by the man.

Still, he felt bad that he couldn't help more. At this point, their best chance of finding Ultear was through Ur alone.

The group eventually stopped over a frozen lake near the center where the ice was thinnest, making it easier to set up a fishing hole. It was around noon, and the group had yet to eat a proper meal, and thus they had stopped half-way to their destination of the next town to acquire food.

Placing their belongings on the ground, Ur carrying a small bag of clothes, and Lyon and Gray with their backpacks, the group quickly got to work.

Creating a blade, he stabbed it down into the frozen ice of the lake and began to cut a large hole. Surprisingly, the ice was rather thin, no thicker than an inch, and yet it still managed to support them. However, that was because Ur, Lyon, and Gray were ice mages, so they simply froze more water beneath them to keep the ice from breaking. Similarly, he reinforced the ice beneath his feet as he finally finished cutting out a hole.

"It's done!" He called out, dismissing the blade he had created in his hand.

"Finally," Ur called with a grin before she tossed Lyon and Gray each a fishing pole. "We eat as much as we catch," she spoke. They weren't back in their previous home anymore and could not afford to get too many fish as it would only become extra baggage on their journey.

Nodding, Gray and Lyon quickly sat by the fishing hole and tossed in their fishing lines, waiting for the fish to bite. With the special bait Ur had on hand, it didn't take long before Gray and Lyon had procured at least six fish.

It was then that something unexpected occurred.

As he was getting ready to create a small fire to cook the fish, a man suddenly appeared off the edge of his vision.

He was tall and lumbermen like, with worn animal furs covering most of his body, and snow shoes on his feet to keep him from sinking in the snow. The lower half of his face was covered by a warm mask, his heated breath appearing in clouds before him. Only his blue eyes remained focused, a momentary hesitation flickering across them before they steeled in determination.

The man walked closer, and at this point, Ur, Lyon, and Gray had taken notice, but none of them, other than him alone, truly raised their guards. After all, they were all ice mages.

Focusing as the man approached within hearing distance, the man quickly made his way towards Gray and Lyon who had long since placed their caught fish into a bucket to store them in.

Grunting, the man spoke as he brought out a small knife from within his thick fur coating. "Hand over the fish," the man spoke gruffly, hesitating for a moment before he spoke again, eying their spare fur coats and covers. "And the quilts and furs too."

Ur instantly frowned upon hearing the man's words. She had heard of bandits from travellers, but never had she experienced it for herself until now. She truly couldn't understand how her fellow man could bring himself to steal from other's own fortune. Even if the bandits were poor, weren't there other ways than simply robbing other's hard earned efforts?

She instantly stood up, but not before Gray and Lyon had already started speaking.

"Stealing is bad you know?" Lyon spoke.

Gray quickly agreed with a grunt.

"You have no choice in the matter," the spoke indifferently, already moving the knife into a threatening position.

Just as Ur had already stood up, so too did Shirou, and just as he was about to intervene, Ur stopped him with a hand. He raised a brow in confusion, but quickly understood Ur's meaning. Gray and Lyon were ice mages so regardless if they were threatened by a knife, they were still safe, even more so with him and Ur nearby. She was treating this as a learning experience he supposed.

He nodded his head towards Ur, and resigned himself to watching for now.

"Did you not hear me?" The man spoke again. "I'm not joking. I really will attack you."

"You would attack children?" Gray glared. He was smart for his age and could understand the advantage a bandit would gain upon acquiring a child as a hostage, or even attacking a child in general.

"Do not force my hand," the man spoke calmly. "Now hurry it up." He directed the command not towards Gray and Lyon, but towards Ur, the adult of the group.

"No," Gray spoke in confrontation. They had worked for it; therefore, it was theirs.

The man's hands seemed to tremble for a moment after hearing Gray's words, but they quickly steadied. "If my hands must be dirtied again, then so be it."

The man attacked so suddenly that even Ur had been surprised by it, but he had not. Moving quickly, he was about to intercept before he realized Gray had already utilized his magic before Lyon followed swiftly after.

"M-Mages," the man gasped before he quickly backed away, yet his hands and feet were already beginning to freeze and weigh him down.

It was in that moment that everything happened way too fast. The forming ice over the man greatly increased his weight, and suddenly the thin ice beneath his feet broke under him. Gray and Lyon only had a single moment to express their shock before the man plunged deep into the ice-cold water.

The man wasn't a mage.

Even the majority of the people of Fiore weren't.

The man would die in the freezing water.

Stripped to his boxers in an instant, Gray was already preparing to jump in after the man, but was quickly stopped by Ur who herself had stripped down into nothing but her underwear.

Shirou looked away embarrassed for a moment, but didn't miss how Ur had been the one to jump in after the man. He understood why she had stopped Gray. Even if he was training to be an ice mage, he wasn't a fully fledged one yet, and the freezing waters may still affect him. Ur didn't want to take that risk and jumped in before him.

Head surfacing for a moment, Ur took a breath and dived in once again trying to locate how far down the man had sunk, the formed clumps of ice made from Lyon and Gray's magic acting like anchors on the man. It's a common sight to see ice float on water due to its density, but the ice made by Lyon and Gray was far denser than normal to weigh an enemy down. It was one of the first moves Ur had taught them so that they could escape in times of great danger.

Finally, after nearly six minutes had passed, Ur surfaced for the fourth time dragging up the body of the man along with her.

Upon placing him on hard ground, she shook her head towards Gray, Lyon, and himself. "He's gone," she spoke solemnly. Not only had the man been unable to breath in the water, he had been there for far to long, his body temperature as cold as the ice. It was only with the unique constitution of an ice mage that allowed her to swim freely in the water, and the man simply didn't possess the same uniqueness.

Closing the man's blue eyes, she silently laid him to rest. Even if he was a bandit, he was still a human to be mourned. His death joining the staggering number of those who have already died in the North through Deliora, or other means.

"I, I," Gray and Lyon didn't know what to say looking down at the body in front of them.

Ur raised a hand. "It's not your fault," she spoke softly. "Still, we can at least give him a proper burial."

Shirou nodded to Ur's words as he helped her carry the man off the lake and bury him beneath the snow. Ur then grabbed a few things from her bag and made a cross in which she planted into the ground before offering a small prayer for the departed.

Everyone else followed her example, the mood rather somber.

"Let's go," Ur spoke after a moment, she and the others glancing towards the fish before shaking their heads. They had already lost their appetites.

"Based on where we are, we shouldn't be that far off from the next town," Ur spoke after she and the others had walked in silence for the past half-hour. "We should make camp here, and then venture off into the town tomorrow to ask around," she spoke as she placed her things down.

Shirou voiced his approval and got set to help Gray and Lyon raise a tent, but was stopped by Ur.

"It's my turn," she spoke before pressing her hands together and activating her magic.

Thrusting her hands out, she created a replica of the house they had used to live in out of ice.

For some reason, when Shirou touched the house's walls, they oddly weren't cold.

"I can control the temperature," Ur explained. "Most of the cold in the ice is taken in by me."

Shirou nodded in understanding, but didn't rush into the house as fast as Gray and Lyon did to claim their rooms. He had grown way beyond acting his age.

"I'll prepare us dinner," he spoke instead, choosing to go to the kitchen rather than check out the other rooms. "I assume we can't use a stove made out of ice, so it's a good thing I can still light a fire."

Ur silently agreed as she watched him enter the house.

The interior was just the same as the exterior, completely made out of ice, but at least everything seemed familiar. Ove the course of time he had lived with Ur, Gray, and Lyon in that little house by the mountainside he had gotten accustomed to it. Still, since he hadn't lived there long enough, the rapid change in environment didn't really phase him as much as it did Lyon and Gray. At least with the similar design of the house, it could bring them a sense of peace.

Dinner was a quick affair as always, the plates cleaned spotless, and several grubby hands reaching out to other people's plates, teacher included. However, at least it was fun, a moments rest from the stress of searching with no leads.

The next morning had everyone gathered early, the sun just barely rising out from the horizon as Gray and Lyon trained with Shirou watching absently. Ur had been with them mere moments ago, but she had left for the town to ask around for the physicians she had met several years ago to treat Ultear.

For Ur, this was the final town, and if they didn't find any leads this time, she really would be at a loss. It would mean that Ultear was no longer anywhere she could think of, and that she would need to search the entire world for her.

Shirou sighed, thinking about her, and the pain she still must be going through. Either way, it was already his business, and just as Gray and Lyon promised in their hearts to help Ur search for Ultear, he had too. Still, Gray and Lyon had to grow strong first, and he himself would have to get properly accustomed to his magic. This was why he devoted himself to practice late at night.

He had already discovered all that he needed to know for now so that nothing would surprise him in the future. Not about the presence of another magic container, nor about some focal point of magic he had discovered originating from the small of his back. Mysteries they were, but unknown they were not.

The first thing he was doing right now however, was trying to tap into the resources of magic of that second container. Taking his eyes off of Gray and Lyon, he sat down, closed his eyes, and began to concentrate deep within himself as he directed a flow of magic towards the second vessel.

Gray and Lyon meanwhile, where sparring, shards of ice and snow scattering across the sparring ground as a gasp of astonishment resounded through the excitement of the morning.

Gray, Lyon, and Shirou turned towards the noise. A little girl stood there, her dirty blond hair scattered in a mess, but she still looked good all the same. Her eyes were blue, and she had a pale complexion, her body also somewhat thin for her age with a rounded face.

The garments she wore didn't seem especially warm, or soft either, quite coarse if one were to touch it, but at least it was enough to ward the cold.

The only thing of value that seemed to be on her was silver cross-shaped necklace hanging around her neck.

Presently she stood there with a look of surprise over her face as she dropped the rope she had over her shoulder which connected to a small sled filled with tiny ice sculptures. From the looks of the snow tracks, she had just been on her way back from the town when she stopped by Gray and Lyon's training area. "You can use magic?!" She spoke excitedly.

Lyon smiled while scratching at the back of his head. "Yes," he admitted. "We're ice mages."

Gray simply dismissed her questions and decided to continue training even without Lyon sparring with him. He had to get stronger, and fast to defeat Deliora and avenge his parents. He had to get stronger so that he could protect those he held close to him.

His attitude didn't go unnoticed by Shirou, but he didn't question it at the moment as he was sure Gray would soon grow out of it.

"Wow," the girl exclaimed before asking, "can you make ice sculptures too?"

Gray paused in his training to take a look at the girl and the sculptures she had on her sleigh. Thinking on the question, he quickly realized that it was good image training to create his own ice sculptures. Thus, before Lyon could demonstrate his skill, he extended out a hand, and small ice sculpture of a fish was created.

The little girl's eyes widened in delight as she exclaimed once again before running to Gray to inspect the sculpture in closer detail. "It's almost as good as mine," she spoke, grabbing a similar ice sculpture from her sled. "See," she spoke earnestly. "It's also a fish."

Shirou smiled from the interaction. Even if they both made fish, they were both completely different looking from each other. Still, just to make sure the conversation didn't die out, he spoke out again. "What's it for? All these ice sculptures I mean," he added on after noticing the look of confusion on the girls face.

She smiled dejectedly in a way a little child shouldn't, but eventually she spoke. "I was selling them," she admitted. "Papa says we don't have much money and not to worry about it and let him handle things, but I want to make it easier for him."

"How about your mom?" Lyon asked.

The little girl looked towards him, her lips pursed. "I never knew her, papa says she's gone to a better place after a 'big bad demon' came when I was still a baby." She emphasized big bad demon by seriously curling her fingers beside her head.

Her words alone effected Gray more than anyone present. He kicked idly at the snow beneath him, a scowl over his face.

"This is all I have left of mom," she showed the necklace around her neck with a smile. "It's very pretty," she said with a self-satisfied nod until her stomach growled and her cheeks flushed with embarrassment.

"Hungry?" Shirou asked sincerely, already getting ready to light a fire and cook some of the food they had on hand.

Looking at him, the little girl became flustered. "I-I can't intrude," she spoke.

"Nonsense," Shirou spoke. "You wouldn't be intruding at all, and besides I don't think these other two would really mind."

Persuaded by his words, the little girl nodded to Shirou and plaintively sat down, splaying her legs out as she waited.

Gray and Lyon continued their training, and soon, Shirou had made a quick lunch.

Taking a bite, the little girl's eyes brightened before she uncaringly began to wolf everything down, bewildering Gray, Shirou, and Lyon who watched silently; even giving out their own portions when they realized that she could still eat more.

When the meal was finished, the little girl quickly realized the stares on her and blushed, turning her face away to wipe her mouth. "Sorry," she spoke. "I haven't eaten in a while since no one in the town bought any of the ice sculptures. Papa hasn't come home from the lake yet either."

"The lake?" Gray suddenly questioned, his brows furrowing.

Even Shirou had a contemplative look come over his face before it disappeared.

"Yeah," the little girl spoke. "He often goes there and brings back food and presents for me from friends of his that he meets up with on the way to the town. You wouldn't miss him if you saw him either. His eyes are as blue as mine." She pointed at her own eyes and laughed. "He also wears a lot of thick cloths making him look like a big bear when all the snow sticks to him."

 _Oh boy_.

Both Gray and Lyon swallowed, looking at the laughing girl, but neither said anything.

Standing up, the girl bowed in sincerity. "Thank you. The meal was delicious," she spoke to Shirou. "I'll be going for now, papa may have come home and I don't want to worry him if he realizes I'm not there."

The girl walked up to the sled that looked way to large for such a little girl to pull, and slung the rope over her shoulder once again. "Bye bye misters!" She spoke as she began to walk away.

Her legs pressed deep into the snow, but she was able to move forward regardless of how many times she stumbled on her way. After all, she still had to wait for her papa.

Her small figure disappeared into the distance, her shoulders looking far too small to carry the burdens that were placed on her.

Those left remaining had a very complex expression over their faces. None more so than Gray and Lyon.

"You don't think," Gray began questioningly.

"Blue-eyes aren't common in the North," Lyon spoke solemnly.

The group lapsed into silence, even Shirou didn't know what to say at this point.

When Ur returned, and the situation was explained to her, all she could do was purse her lips before she decided that it would be best to verify everything with the girl. However, she didn't say to do things immediately. Rather, she said to give things some time.

On another note, when Ur had come back, like Shirou expected, they had found no leads to follow and were now at a crossroads. Either to leave the Northern Lands to continue searching or stay. In regards for tot hat matter, the hard decision was made to stay in the Northern lands until Gray and Lyon were done with their training.

She wasn't worried about how long it was going to take because both Lyon and Gray were excellent students. The only few things she wished to fix were their habits. Lyon for example using his magic with only one hand rather than stabilizing it with two, his over confidence leading him down a difficult path, and Gray even more so.

The habit she had to fix for Gray was one even more dire than Lyon's. His fear and hatred for Deliora, but frankly, she didn't know what to do. The hate was clouding his judgement, and coupled with his fear of losing anymore people to the demon, he had shut himself off behind a scowling exterior. It was only when he slept did Ur ever see peace come over his face.

She sighed, and returned back to the matter at hand. "We'll stay in this area for now," she spoke, and upon seeing neither Gray nor Lyon take note of her, she sighed again.

She walked up to Gray and Lyon, and placed a hand on both their shoulders. "Look," she said. "What happened back then wasn't your fault. The both of you had the correct response, but the ice around us had been too thin to support that man's weight. You didn't mean it, so don't blame yourselves."

Nodding once, she directed everyone back into the house where they ended up spending the rest of their day.

The little girl visited again in the morning two days after, her eyes were sunken-in and dark rings were forming. The sled behind her back came to a stop on her way from the city.

"Hello," she greeted with a strained laugh. "Papa still hasn't come home and I ended up spending the whole night awake," she spoke upon noticing their stares.

Scratching her head in the strangely awkward atmosphere, her eye widened for a moment as she thought of something. She moved towards her sled and picked up one of the ice sculptures she had made. "It's you," she spoke, showing it off.

It was a little boy whose features were indistinguishable, but the relative image was still accurately portrayed. "I made it last night, and I already sold the other two just like it. Misters, did you know? I got to have bread today." She smiled matter-of-factly, but her words did not seem to have the intended effect.

"This," Ur put on a troubled expression. "Please, come inside for a moment. We were just about to have lunch anyway." she spoke as she exchanged glances with Shirou who nodded back.

Silent, the little girl hesitated. "I still need to go home though. What if papa comes back?"

Gray and Lyon looked away, but Ur moved forward and simply knelt until they were eye level. "I insist," Ur spoke softly suddenly realizing something. What if Ultear was just like this girl?

Her heart tightened, and she could feel nots in her stomach. "Please," she repeated again watching the little girl's reluctance. "I insist."

Noticing the look on Ur's face, the little girl eventually agreed, a plate of food placed in front of her as she sat down in front of the dining table.

Seeing a nod from Shirou, the little girl eventually began eating, forgetting about the people around her as she ate.

"Thanks again mister, it was delicious," the little girl said as she wiped her mouth. "But I should really get going again." The little girl got up from the table and walked back out side to her sled.

"Just hold on for a moment," Ur spoke gently before she left.

The little girl nodded her head and stood patiently.

A hesitant look appeared over Gray and Lyon's face before Ur ultimately signalled to Shirou again.

Sighing, Shirou walked towards the little girl and slowly lifted up his hand in front of her. Within moments, a small knife appeared in front of him. The knife was unique in that it's wooden handle had small engraving shaped like branches twining around the base. Even the blade itself, although worn, still gleamed with sharpness.

The little girl's eyes seemed to widen exponentially. "That's papa's!" She yelled in excitement. "Where did you get it from?" She asked after taking the knife into her hands.

It was then did she suddenly realize something as her mind slowly worked out the details. "H-How did you get p-papa's knife?" She spoke again, her voice breaking.

In the sudden silence caused by the little girl's question, Gray spoke quickly. "It was me," he stepped out in front of the girl. "I-I took your papa away from you."

The girl staggered back, shaking her head in denial. "P-Papa's not coming back?"

Gray shook his head, watching as tears began to stream down the little girl's eyes before her emotions turned into hatred. Yet that hatred quickly disappeared and turned into resignation.

She turned back towards Ur, Shirou, and Lyon, "thank you for all that you've done for me," she spoke.

She gave a glance at Gray before knitting her brows and walking away towards the sled sniffling as she went.

Gray called out to her. "W-Why?" He asked. Why didn't she say or do anything? He couldn't understand it. Just like the way he could never forgive Deliora.

The little girl didn't say anything for a moment, before she slowly turned around, her eyes down cast. "Because revenge won't bring papa back," she spoke.

Gray had nothing he could say to that, after all, it was the truth, but he still spoke out in regards to his own feelings. "B-But don't you want to avenge him!" He spoke heatedly.

Shirou noticed the conversation moving towards troubled waters and immediately opened his mouth to intervene, but Ur stopped him. "This may be a good thing for, Gray," she whispered, hands clenched.

"Yes!" The little girl yelled before she grew somber. "But more than that, I respect their wishes more."

The little girl swallowed before speaking again. "I knew that papa wasn't a good man. He often told me not to grow up like him, but all the crimes he had ever committed were for my sake." She grew silent, her eyes downcast and her lips shivering. "He was my father: The biggest idiot in the world."

 _"Gray, grow up to be a strong man."_

Gray shuddered as he recalled his father's final words before he died.

Her piece said, the little girl turned around and began pulling the large sled from a rope she held over her tiny shoulders. Moments after, she paused before turning back around and walking towards Gray.

"Here," she spoke with a strained smile, handing out the ice sculpture of the little boy. "I always thought this was the prettiest one, and thank you for the other day."

They exchanged a few more words before the little girl once again picked up the rope of her sled and walked off, her shoulders bobbing up and down as she sobbed her way back home.

* * *

Gray hadn't been very talkative in the following days after the little girl's departure. He appeared to be deep in thought, reflecting about the words the little girl had spoken to him, and the resolve she had to forego her own revenge. He didn't know if he could be the same about Deliora. He only knew that there was no way he possibly could.

The words his father had spoken to him back then continued to plague his mind along with the single sentence the little girl had bravely spoken.

 _"I respect their wishes more."_

He knew that if his father and mother were alive, they would _not_ in any way want him to pursue Deliora in revenge, and didn't that mean he was going against them?

He clicked his tongue and decided to drown himself in his own training, something Ur had taken notice off, but didn't voice out.

Shirou and Lyon also noticed, but just like Ur, they did nothing aside from Lyon working harder so as to not get surpassed by Gray.

The days continued to pass, and the little girl never visited again.

It was then a couple days later that it happened, a roar able to split apart the clouds.

Gray's eyes widened as a sinking feeling took root in his stomach. He knew that roar. He was all to familiar with it. Almost as soon as he heard it, he was out the door and running, rage bruning within his eyes.

"Gray, stop!" Ur yelled, quickly catching up to him. "You can't do anything as you are now," she spoke.

Shirou and Lyon were also nearby.

Gray didn't say anything, but he still walked forward.

"If you take one more step, you're not my disciple anymore," Ur spoke evenly in warning. "Please, think this through."

Gray hesitated, but still took that step forward and ran in the direction of the town where he could hear the roars echoing in the distance.

Ur reached out a hand for him to call him back, her expression conflicted.

"Gray, _you_!" Lyon yelled indignantly. "Do you not understand what you're doing! You're throwing your life away!"

Lyon yelled at Gray and urged him to stop, but Gray continued anyway.

Amidst all the yelling, Shirou acted first, sharing a glance with Ur before they both quickly chased after Gray who had gotten a considerable lead.

Anger was clouding his decisions, and it only increased the closer he came to the town. From where he was, he could see that the walls were broken, and numerous building were already collapsed.

"We're only going there to save the civilians first," Shirou's voice came from Gray's side before a complicated expression fell over Shirou's face. "Leave Deliora to me," he spoke resolutely. "I may have a few attacks that could be useful."

Gray nodded, but didn't say anything.

Ur who had been keeping silent, sent a furtive gaze at Shirou, curious about what he had said. Still, her main focus was Gray.

As the group neared the town, something flickered off of the edge of Gray's vision: a small crushed igloo with a destroyed sled by its side, and ice sculptures strewn across the snow.

Shirou arrived there first, his expression growing blank as his hands clenched into fists. His eyes narrowed, and an aura of magic seemed to suddenly come to life around him before he shot off at break-neck speed towards the town.

Seeing such a reaction, Ur, Lyon, and Gray quickly arrived at the same location.

The anger within Gray instantly quelled as his gaze drifted away from the demon in the distance.

He stood there, expression blank, but legs carrying him forward.

 _"Because revenge won't bring them back."_

In the lands of the frigid North.

Where the winds blew strong, and the where the ice captured all.

 _"Because even if father's gone, his image lives on within me. The care he showed in his smile, the sincerity and earnesty of wanting me to live on. How could I possibly betray that?"_

Buried in the snow,

And preserved in the ice.

Was the body of a small little girl.

Clutching tightly in her hands which were pressed against her chest,

Was a tiny silver cross-shaped necklace.

* * *

 **Thanks for Reading.**

 **Next chapter begins the start of the conflict of the The Demon in the North arc.**

 **P a treon. com (slash) Parcasious**

 **Next update: The Magus Among Ninjas**


	8. The Demon in the North Part 2

He was being impulsive, and he knew it.

It was just that seeing the devastation brought about by Deliora was far different from simply hearing about it.

Over the course of time he had spent in the Northern Lands, he had watched the efforts and struggles of the people who lived within it. Day by day, rising early to make ends meet through labour, and even less savoury means in order to survive. Cutting through the sheets of ice to melt fresh water, and even travelling long distances to the nearest fishing holes, it was just how life worked.

Yet that did not mean that nothing paid off from their actions. The towns and villages scattered across the ice and snow made of imported brick and cobblestone, stood tall and warm in the face of blizzards and hail storms alike.

The smiles of the people,

And the tenderness of close human interaction.

The comfort of family through harsh times.

Even, the efforts of a little girl and her ice sculptures.

Gone.

Within a day, everything was gone.

Fires ran rampant, leaving long wisp-like trails of smoke that stretched out towards the skies. Down bellow, lay the wreckage. A mismatch of trampled metal, wood, stone, and flesh. Buildings that had once stood tall, and great monuments erected towards the faith, were damaged beyond repair. Chunks torn off, and holes punctured into their massive frames, left them just barely standing.

Wordlessly, he entered the town from its main entrance: An open street set up in such a way that vendors could set up their own shops.

Regardless, such a thing was rendered trivial as nothing truly remained of the street. Banners of the town mayor that had once been strung proudly atop buildings were torn and fluttering with little movement despite the strong winds.

He walked forward, his gaze set on the monster before him. It was exactly as the rumours described: tall, overbearing, and ruthless. Perhaps even a tad more.

His hands once empty began to emit arcs of magical energy.

What Ur, and her students knew of his magic was only limited to the knowledge he had told them. This being the case, he had only explained his ability to create and understand a weapon's functions. Therefore, they had a basic understanding that he could recreate weapons that he had once seen. Although the ability sounded impressive, one would have to remember that his current appearance was closer to that of a child's. In which case, what weapons could a boy his age possibly have seen that could be considered too dangerous?

That reasoning was wrong as he had plenty of weapons in his arsenal that could be considered too dangerous. For he possessed weapons known as Noble Phantasms, Crystalized Mysteries using the imaginations of humans as their core.

Mysteries were what the residents of the twilight world referred too as their magic. In which case, a Crystalized Mystery's strength was far more than a Magus's Mysteries. This was due to the power source and origin. While a magus perfected their Mysteries through research past on from generation to generation, a Crystalized Mystery held its roots and power within the hearts of the people. After all, one would never forget the legends of heroes, even if the stories were only told in passing.

Any moment now, he knew that Ur and the rest would be making their way to the town. He had chosen to move ahead of them not only to scout, but to gauge the level of danger in the situation.

Still, a roar resounded in the distance, causing tremors to reverberate within his chest.

Walking forward, he suddenly stopped, his eyes catching signs of movement within the rubble.

He acted decisively.

Glancing at Deliora, he then turned and moved in the opposite direction.

Towns can be re-built, but lives simply can not.

* * *

Watching the glazed look in Gray's eyes, Ur knew she had to take action before her student did something stupid. However, even she felt some degree of outrage take root within her for the little girl frozen in the ice.

"Gray?" Lyon called. He was standing opposite to her, and even now she could see the minor trembling of his body.

She couldn't fault him. After all, it hadn't even been that long since they had last the girl, and it wasn't something she or any of her students would be forgetting anytime soon.

As a resident of the Northern Lands, she knew that life could be difficult, and not everyone could be lucky. Gray was born and raised within a warm home, and Lyon had her, but the little girl's situation was far different. Fighting to survive, and a father who did all in his power to better the little girl's future. The situation was actually quite pitiable, and anyone would feel remorse for them should they understand the situation.

Gray stretched out a hand towards the silver cross-shaped necklace in the girl's hand, and gently grabbed it before clenching his fists.

He then ran off in the direction of the town, leaving Lyon momentarily stunned before Ur took off after Gray, the action bringing Lyon back to his senses.

"Gray, stop!" Ur yelled, grabbing Gray's arm as the group entered the town.

"I have to do something!" Gray yelled back.

Ur furrowed her brows as Gray shook his arm away from her grasp.

"You fool, all you're doing is dragging teacher into your mess!" Lyon spoke.

With that said, even Gray began to hesitate. Even though he was young, he could see truth in Lyon's statement. Why else would Ur still be following him? She had said that if he went to fight Deliora, then he would no longer be her student, yet her she was now persistently running after him.

"You don't have to come," Gray spoke softly before blindly running towards Deliora.

Ur sighed. She had known ever since she had chosen to take Gray in as student that he could never let go of his hatred. Deliora had destroyed his home town, and killed his parents right in front of him; leaving him near death, and buried beneath the rubble of his own home.

Even as she was training Gray, she knew where the majority of his motivation lay, and the hindrance it caused to his progress.

Since this was clearly the case, she as the mentor would shoulder that darkness.

"Ur?" Lyon asked.

"We're going," she said. Eying the wreckage and noticing the survivors. However, the one at the most danger at the moment was not the survivors, but Gray.

Lyon nodded, and the two ran towards Deliora.

* * *

This was it, the time of his vengeance.

"Do you remember me?" Gray asked lowly.

The giant Deliora in front of him was in the middle of annihilating a portion of the town center, but paused as it heard Gray's voice. It turned and looked towards him, grunting before dismissively turning back to it's earlier actions.

Enraged, Gray ran forward, resting his palm against an open fist.

"Ice-Make: Halberd!" He roared, raising his arms up over his head.

A layer of cold mist exuded from his body as a blue magic circle formed at the far extent of his hands. From there, a nine-foot ice halberd with a thin tassel of snow attached to the blade fluttered dramatically as the weapon descended.

Gray smiled. This was the accumulation of all his past efforts and struggles, and it showed in the craftsmanship of his Ice-Make magic. There would be no difference from his ice halberd compared to a real one. In fact, it was probably even stronger and more durable as he was constantly refining it even as he attacked.

Yet his voice caught in his throat as he halberd instantly shattered upon making contact with Deliora's skin. Soon after, he was sent flying, blood rushing to his mouth as he tumbled within the snow.

"Gray!"

That voice was all too familiar to him, and a sense of dread permeated from within his gut. There was a reason he never tried to get close to anyone after his parents died. He couldn't bear to have anyone else he loved taken away from him, and over the course of time he spent with Ur, she had unknowingly become one of them, and to a certain degree, so had Lyon. This prompted his expression to darken as Ur moved to confront Deliora while Lyon helped prop him up.

"Ur!" He called desperately. He had been wrong, and blinded by rage.

Like Ur and Lyon had said, he was nowhere near enough to defeat Deliora. Old fears once again took root within his mind, only made worse when he thought of what could happen to Ur as she went to block Deliora.

If she died, he wouldn't know what he would do, or be able to say. He would experience the same pain as he once had when his parents died.

He _never_ wanted to feel that pain again, so seeing Ur suddenly get back handed and then pinned to a tattered stone wall, it almost drove him completely insane.

However, Ur's form vanished, replaced by a puppet of shattered ice.

He breathed out a sigh of relief before fearfully yelling. "Run!"

By now, he realized there really was nothing that he or Lyon could do. Thus, only Ur could be a match against Deliora, yet that would mean risking her life. He didn't want that sort of risk. Not in the slightest. If anything, it should be him risking his life.

"Don't," Lyon spoke, upon noticing his intentions.

"I have to try," he argued fiercely.

Lyon clenched his fists and narrowed his eyes. "Teacher is the strongest," he spoke with conviction.

In Lyon's eyes, Ur really was the strongest, and his life-long goal to surpass. Ever since Ur had taken Lyon in and began teaching him as a student, the fanaticism within him had only ever been growing. At this moment, it was evident for all to see.

Gray could only hold himself back upon further reflection. By going to help, all he would really do was increase the chances of Ur dying. After all, he knew that he would just be a burden.

Deliora took a second glance at the pests surrounding it before grunting and turning its attention solely on the one who stood before it.

This person was Ur. Not only did she comprehend the sheer magnitude of Deliora's strength with that last exchange, it made her blood run cold. If she had not planned her actions out, she knew that her body could not withstand such a blow. This was evident from the shattered remains of the ice puppet she had previously made.

Her brows creased, her chest heaving as she leaned forward on her knees. "Ice-Make," her hands clapped together, geysers of snow and ice spewing from her palms and creating massive wings. "Snow Bird's Tail Feathers!"

The ice spewing from her palms solidified, the edges becoming as sharp as cracked glass. Where her hands moved, the formed winged-like feathers of ice followed like a massive sword.

This level of performance was on a higher level than what Gray had exhibited. After all, what Gray had used was only the elementary forms of Ice Creation magic. There were several components necessary to utilize creation magic, one of the most important being creativity. Being far older than Gray, Ur had far more experience to rely on, and could be more creative in her creations. Figuratively speaking, her understanding was on a higher level.

Watching Ur begin her attack, Lyon nodded his head in confidence while Gray was left speechless based on the difference between his and Ur's attack. The difference between the two was just too large.

With a swing of her hands, Deliora was forced to block.

Fragments of ice shattered, Ur's attack grating against Deliora's steel-like skin.

Ur's expression changed at that moment.

It's hide was insanely tough.

Clicking her tongue, she swung her weapons again before leaping up. Her form was similar to an ascending snow bird, the white avians of the North.

Deliora roared, eyes growing frustrated as it swatted out with both of his arms.

Ice shattered and fell unceasingly against the ground, Lyon performing a quick Ice-Make magic and creating a shield of ice above himself and Gray.

"Ur!" Gray yelled in concern, watching Deliora's fist come striking down towards her.

The main principle of Ice-Magic,

Was a solid foundation.

Eye's narrowing, Ur's hands once again made contact with each other.

"Ice-Make,"

Time itself seemed to freeze.

Deliora's expression faltered for a moment as a giant object appeared before it.

"Giant's Great War Horn," Ur spoke indifferently.

Besides Gray and Lyon who were watching the fight closely, even the surviving spectators became rooted while looking up into the sky.

It was a giant horn made of ice whose diameter was equal to Deliora's height. Ur stood at the helm, pressing her mouth to the horn's reed and blowing.

Like the severity of a winter storm, hard flakes of compacting snow and hail alike spewed forth from the horn and began to cover Deliora from head to toe.

Struggling, Deliora was wiping away the accumulated snow forming over him, yet his actions were too slow. Whenever he'd clear a section of ice off of him, another would near instantly take its place.

A cheer resounded from the survivors watching as Deliora struggled uselessly.

Soon, Deliora was completely covered in a mound of ice and snow.

The large horn then shattered, leaving Ur to fall back down to the ground breathing heavily.

"You did it Ur!" Lyon spoke rushing forward before even Gray.

Ur's eyes sharpened.

"No, stop!" She yelled, pursing her lips as she created a large magic seal that surrounded the captured Deliora.

Boom.

The ground shook, causing Lyon's and many other's eyes to widen.

Sweat began to form over Ur's brow as she attempted to completely freeze the loose ice and snow that the pile was composed of, killing Deliora from within. She had understood upon noticing that it would be quite difficult to wound Deliora moments earlier that she would have to find another way to defeat it.

Its body was like steel, and not even her ice seemed able to pierce through it. Therefore, she had reached a single conclusion, or an assumption at best. Blood had to have been running through Deliora's veins, how else could it be able to maintain its body temperature in the cold otherwise? Even if this was assumption, she still had to attempt it.

By covering Deliora in several sheets of snow and ice, she hoped to substantially drop the temperature around and within Deliora. After all, blood will eventually freeze at a certain point. Such a thing would allow her to defeat Deliora without necessarily having to pierce through and damage his flesh.

However, she realized as she was attempting to drop the temperature that things weren't going to be that easy. As the person who had created the sheets of ice and snow to cover Deliora, she could feel what the monster was attempting to do from within.

It was frustratingly beating against the walls, and its feet trying to dig beneath. Each of it's strikes would cause Ur's complexion to pale, however, she didn't give up and continued to fuel her magical power into the ice.

Yet, it was not to last.

With a grunt, Deliora pierced a hole into the entrapment, and then promptly began destroying the rest, a piece of debris sent flying and bluntly smashing into Ur's gut.

She dry-heaved, her eyes widening as her hands moved to press against her stomach. Her concentration disrupted, Deliora only used the opportunity to break our faster.

"Ur," Gray spoke, appearing beside her.

Lyon wasn't much farther, but he was still a tad shaken from seeing Deliora break out.

"You both have to leave from here," she urged, wiping off a drop of blood from a cut lip.

"Not without you," Lyon argued.

Ur stopped talking, her gaze instead moving towards the group of survivors she could see from the distance. Even if she wanted to leave, she couldn't just forsake the survivors behind her.

Deliora completely broke out of the ice, and immediately managed to strike at Ur, Lyon, and Gray.

Pushing her students out of the way, it was Ur who took the brunt of the damage.

"Agh-" she bit back a scream as she was sent tumbling across the snow, leaving a trail of blood as wounds opened all across her body.

"You bastard!" Gray yelled, seeing that Ur had yet to get up.

He charged forward and attacked Deliora once more, but he was not alone.

"ICE MAKE,"

A voice screamed, as an animal of ice took shape from an open palm.

"ICE TIGERS!" Lyon yelled.

The type of creation magic Lyon used differed slightly from Gray's as his aspect of magic specialized in the creation of animals instead of objects like Gray.

With a roar, the tigers of ice snapped their jaws around Deliora's heels while Gray attacked with a sword of ice. Still, neither attack had any effect, and both were only repelled back with injuries.

"Lyon, Gray," Ur spoke somberly as she pushed herself up from the ground. Survivors behind her or not, she cared much more about Gray and Lyon's safety. "Get ready to run," she spoke.

"Y-You're joking aren't you Ur?" Lyon spoke, forcing himself up onto his feet.

Ur was his idol, his goal in life. She couldn't possibly be defeated by Deliora or anybody for that matter!

"I'm afraid not, Lyon," Ur spoke. "Now this isn't the time to argue, so take Gray, and the both of you get out of here."

Lyon laughed, a strange glint in his eyes. "I refuse to believe that you can't beat it! You're just holding back," he spoke. "Very well, if you're unwilling to use your stronger techniques, then allow me!"

Lyon pushed ahead of Ur, and spread his legs apart before stretching his arms and crossing them.

"That stance," Ur's voice was panicked. "Lyon, you?!"

"That's correct," Lyon verified as his magical power erupted around him. "I read and learned this technique from one of the books you kept in the house since you weren't teaching us anything strong."

"Did you even read that magic all the way through!?" Ur yelled.

"Such a great magic, I only finished learning it recently," Lyon admitted.

"Don't you dare Lyon!" Ur urged.

Lyon acted as if he didn't hear her and only continued to raise his magical power.

"Iced-"

Lyon's words stopped mid sentence, Ur encasing him in ice on the spot.

"Lyon!" Gray called in concern.

"He'll be fine," Ur spoke softly while turning her attention back onto Deliora before shifting it onto Gray when she realized the monster did not take any further actions.

"What was Lyon going to do?" Gray asked.

"He was going to use a grand magic called Iced Shell that would forever seal Deliora away within an un-meltable ice," Ur spoke solemnly. "However, the users body itself becomes said ice."

Gray couldn't see it, but a calm steadiness lined with hesitation was taking root within Ur's eyes. She had yet to truly understand what had become of her daughter, and if she was like before, remaining ignorant, perhaps she wouldn't have had any hesitation in her actions. However, things had surpassed such a point, and she could only make do with what she already knew.

Shirou had revealed it all to her. Purposely, or not, it didn't matter. That boy's magic truly did catch her by surprise, and although she was skeptical at first, testing proved her skepticism otherwise. She had called forth a friend from the Northern armies and had asked to borrow a weapon. Soon after, she had gotten Shirou to verify everything about the weapon, and even other miscellaneous things disregarding the weapon and moving onto the owner itself. Everything proved true. From the information provided, to the way he recreated a copy and mimicked the swordsmanship, everything was accurate.

This proved one thing for her.

There was truth in Shirou's words, and that in itself drove her furious.

If one asked if she had regrets, there would only be one that she would answer without hesitation. Regardless, actions already taken can not be taken back.

It was her only regret, and the only thing causing her to hesitate and become indecisive.

"Ur, what are you doing?" Gray asked, looking directly at her.

The hesitation within her wavered, but ultimately remained. Still though, looking into Gray's frightened eyes, she knew that she couldn't allow her student to continue shouldering his fear for Deliora.

"Gray," she spoke softly as she gave a tender smile. "Will you promise me something?"

Gray nodded his head. "Y-Your leg," he spoke instead.

"Oh this," Ur smiled wryly. "I lost it in that earlier exchange, but this will do."

From half her shin down, her left leg was gone replaced by a leg of ice.

Tears ran down Gray's face. This was his fault. If he hadn't been so impulsive. If he hadn't been so _weak_.

"You see, the creation magic I taught you comes in handy," Ur spoke, unable to see through Gray's inner turmoil. "Now will you promise me something?" She asked again.

"A-Anything," Gray spoke.

"Will you promise me to look for news of Ultear for me?" She asked.

Gray's heart sank, realizing the implication in Ur's words. Fear once again appeared over his face.

Seeing this, Ur only hardened her resolve further. If Ultear was her daughter, then Gray and Lyon to her were like her very own sons, and seeing such an expression on Gray's face pained her greatly in ways even she couldn't describe.

She would take that fear, that darkness, and seal it for eternity within the ice.

Her decision had been made.

"Lyon was right," she said, turning her face away from Gray and moving towards Deliora. "That magic is the only way."

"You're wrong," A voice spoke, as a red-haired boy stepped forward.

"Shirou?" Gray called.

He hadn't even noticed Shirou in all the commotion, but he had appeared just before Ur knocked out Lyon.

"There's another way," Shirou spoke.

Ur stared at Shirou, remembering Shirou's magic and the experience she had with battling Deliora. It didn't take her long to come a single conclusion. "Your magic wouldn't be able to do it."

Not only was her refined ice unable to pierce through Deliora's flesh, but it didn't so much as scratch it. Instead, her weapons were the one's to shatter.

Shirou looked at her in all seriousness before a resolute look appeared over his face.

At that moment,

He bowed.

"Thank you, for all that you've done for me," Shirou said diligently.

He was obviously referring to how Ur had saved him from within the ice, gave him a home for the past few months, and even went out of her way to acquire more food to feed a fourth mouth.

"Although I haven't helped you find your daughter yet, you have my word that I will try. With that said," Shirou's gaze hardened. "For your kindness, let me repay you back."

Ur and Gray were stunned, Ur even more so.

Logically speaking, if it were any other person spouting such words in such a situation, it would be entirely unrealistic for the individual to make good on his word. However, just from Shirou's tone alone, there was a degree of certainty. Even the phrase 'let me repay you back,' when coming out of Shirou's mouth at this moment was like a declaration.

Letting out a breath, he stood tall as he began to make his way forward saying, "I need you all to step back," as he went.

"W-What are you doing?"

Shirou continued on towards Deliora, not answering any of the questions directed towards him.

This was part of his resolve.

"I am the bone of my sword."

A great power seemed to be held in these words, like the actualization of a supreme decree or law.

Chills travelled down the spectator's backs, even Ur and Gray's and they were ice mages.

A sword of that resembled something more akin to a rock appeared within Shirou's hands as he stepped forward, only to falter as Deliora suddenly froze, its eyes locked onto his form.

Frowning, Shirou tensed his muscles preparing for anything.

However, no matter how much he prepared, he would never be prepared for what came next.

Deliora stared at him with its fierce eyes, seemingly transfixed as its gaze moved up and down. A smile then quickly appeared upon its face before it opened its mouth.

Everyone froze.

What came out of Deliora's mouth was not a roar, nor a grunt, or any kind of animalistic noise, but rather, a single word.

" **Brother?** "

A tense silence permeated through the air, but it was only Shirou who could understand the current situation.

His nose twitched as he detected the source of Deliora's power. Deliora did not rely on the contemporary means of magic stored within vessel-like containers within one's body but seemed to run on a similar energy to the magic of his original world. This in theory would mean that Deliora could utilize his magic even if the entire world lost theirs. In a similar way, so could he.

Thus, Deliora must have thought of him as someone similar and on the same side. Unfortunately, that wasn't the case.

Still, many of the others spectators who registered what Deliora had said were stupefied, none more so than Gray who had a complex look flash across his face. However, he was more concerned about watching what Shirou would do.

In that the face of all the stares directed at him, Shirou continued his approach towards Deliora brandishing the blade he had in hand and displaying his intentions.

Deliora appeared confused, before growing enraged as it realized Shirou was going to attack it.

Yet like Ur had said, even with the massive sword Shirou had in hand, how would he breach through Deliora's natural defences?

"Steel is my body and fire is my blood."

Once again, Shirou spoke another set of words that caused waves of unease to travel across the spectators. Not only did they still feel chills this time, but they also inexplicitly felt the urge to hide or take cover.

Muttering something under his breath, the sword in Shirou's hand disappeared as Deliora was sent flying, large bruises forming at its upper arm, collarbone, windpipe, temple, diaphragm, rib, testicles, and thighs.

Everyone was dumbstruck, unable to understand what it was Shirou had just done. It was only Ur who barely understood what had just happened by relying on her intuition, but the answer she was arriving at was causing her to come to a blank. After all, she linked the bruises visible on Deliora's body to the weapon in Shirou's hands.

Not only could she not imagine the level of power hidden within those nine blows to cause bruises on Deliora's body, but to strike at nine places in an instant, such speed was simply unheard of.

Deliora grunted, no longer bothering to converse and simply attacked blindly using its immense strength and durability.

"I have created over a thousand blades."

The sword in Shirou's hands faded away as if it was never there, being replaced by two falchions, one pitch black, and the other a pale white. Soon after, instead of charging with them, he threw them, swords forming around him as he then charged forward and began scaling Deliora's large body. It truly was a representation of one who had claimed to have created over a thousand blades.

Ur along with the crowd was flabbergasted. She had seen him create a sword out of nothing, but she had only believed this ability to be restricted to one weapon at a time. With the speed and efficiency Shirou was moving at, she could even relate it to the middle land's Requip magic she had once heard of. However, staring at Shirou, this was even more frightening.

The two falchions Shirou had initially thrown had circled back and began swarming around Deliora as more and more pairs of the falchions were created in Shirou's hands.

"Unaware of loss, Nor aware of gain."

Whatever chant Shirou was continuing, Ur suspected that it was related to a grand magic at this point. It could potentially even be a lost magic for she had never heard of a magic able to be utilized without even a magic circle. In fact, she had never even seen a single one as Shirou fought.

If she had thought about it more, she would have also been able to understand the significance of such a thing. When wizards battled, the magic circle was large a give away to alert the opponent of an incoming magic. Without the appearance of the magic circle, it would be hard for an opponent to predict when a wizard would use his or her magic.

Back to the point though, she was uncertain about the magic that Shirou was using. Fact is, she and Gray were both rendered speechless when black and white wings seemed to appear from Shirou's back. Normally, for a wizard like her, it wouldn't be that impressive as her Ice Make magic could give her a similar appearance like the Snow Bird's Tail Feathers attack for example. However, the difference was in the power displayed.

She, along with many others had to shield their eyes as fierce winds blew.

Shirou had just attacked using the blades shaped like wings in his hand. Upon contact they had broken into fragments which each individually exploded around Deliora.

Gray watched on silently, his expression hard to read. Shirou was facing Deliora after all, his hated enemy. No matter what though, nothing could hide away the satisfaction he was currently feeling at the moment as well as his gratitude.

After the explosion, Deliora was left with cuts, blood spilling forth and covering its skin. Yet due to its robust and sturdy body, Deliora did not seem to suffer from any fatal wounds.

In comparison, Shirou was generally uninjured aside from a couple bruises and cuts he had obtained while dodging Deliora's wild swings. In any case, his breathing was beginning to become a tad laboured.

From Ur's perspective, it was obvious that Shirou would be feeling tired after utilizing such magic, but Deliora was still far from finished. In fact, it was simply brushing off all of its injuries.

A grave look appeared on Shirou's face, and magic power then began to emanate around him.

"Withstood pain to create weapons, waiting for one's arrival."

Shirou was contemplating to himself as he spoke those words. With the sheer number of Noble Phantasms, he possessed within his arsenal, he could name a few that would have enough penetration power to defeat Deliora. However, such weapons would destroy the area around him and needlessly harm the innocent. That, and he wasn't sure if he had been able to save all of those buried in the rubble of the town.

Thus, there was only a single choice left for him.

"I have no regrets."

The others watching Shirou fight became confused as Shirou suddenly just stopped and stood directly before Deliora.

"What's he doing?" Gray asked Ur.

Ur didn't reply, but knew that the climax of the fight was about to either conclude or begin. Watching Shirou fight till now, she realized that she had greatly underestimated this youth. All that she hoped now was for his safety. This was because, even if she wanted to get involved, her magic could not harm Deliora due to the toughness of Deliora's body, and the influence of a subtle magic cancelation field around Deliora. Getting involved now would only serve to hinder rather than help.

Indifferent to the murmurs around him and Deliora's incoming fists, Shirou knelt down as if in prayer.

"This is the only path."

"My whole life was,"

Before the final set of words left Shirou's mouth, he looked towards Gray and Ur and gently inclined his head.

That done, he spoke the words that would actualize a miracle.

" **Unlimited Blade Works.** "

The majority of the people watching the battle shielded their eyes at that moment since a blinding flash erupted as a ring of fire enveloped both Shirou and Deliora. A blink of an eye later, and neither of the two remained.

Everyone was shocked, unbelieving of what just happened.

Perhaps the most shocked were Ur and Gray, who stood motionless. Out of everyone present, it was them who had the most experience dealing with Shirou, however, none of them expected Shirou to possess such a magic to completely erase Deliora from existence. This was precisely so, as not even a hair or hide of Deliora could be seen anywhere.

A cheer resounded after what seemed like an eternity of silence. Following the cheer, more and more people began to rub their eyes thinking they had just seen an illusion. However, the majority of them inclined their heads in a show of respect to the saviour who had saved them from beneath the destruction caused by Deliora. Even more so when they recognized Ur.

Ur was a strong ice-mage who had once travelled throughout all of the Northern Lands. This being the case, every resident of the North knew of her strength to some degree, and it was because of this that rumours of her being the next Wizard Saint began circulating. Regardless though, the main point of why she had become the center of attention was because many concluded Shirou to be her student after watching their interactions.

Even the town mayor, after verifying that Deliora was gone, excitedly ran up to meet Ur.

At this point, no one seemed to remember the words Deliora had spoken before Shirou began his battle. Many were too elated to even think of such things.

"Your student is quite amazing!" The mayor incessantly praised.

Ur acted as if she didn't even hear the mayor as she was more worried about what happened to Shirou.

Not only had Deliora disappeared, but Shirou had too. Was he going to be alright facing off against Deliora himself? From what she had seen of Shirou's capabilities, especially that last attack, she at least had a bit of confidence.

Meanwhile, Gray's thoughts were no different than Ur's. After all, it didn't take him long to realize the reason as to why Shirou had done what he had. His actions were not only done as a means to save everyone in the town, but to aide him in his fear of Deliora, and the detriments it was bringing to his magic.

Shirou had done what Ur had intended to do by selflessly shouldering Gray's burdens, hatred, and fear.

Yet what had become of him?

Regardless about all their unanswered questions and concerns, there was no one who could verify anything. Yet based on Shirou's attitude before he disappeared, this surely would not be their last meeting.

Still, it was a happy day for the North.

Because even through the dark and morbid cold of the lands covered in snow,

Peace had once again returned.

* * *

A figure stood above an icy plateau.

"So Deliora failed," he murmured before reflecting on what he had seen. A contemplative expression soon flashed across the figure's face. "Another brother? He feels like us, but does not seem to be with us."

The figure's gaze hardened, but regardless, he soon left as if he was never even there.

* * *

 **Thanks for Reading!**

 **Next chapter goes back towards the Strauss siblings**

 **P a treon. com (slash) Parcasious**

 **Next update: Fate Stay Cooking**


	9. Magnolia

He had long comprehended the repercussions of his actions, but more to the point, he understood the duties in which he would now have to bear.

"Just put up with it a bit longer," he insisted as he dripped a damp cloth into a small wash basin, and then took the cloth to wipe away the residual grime clinging on to one of the wounds on his sister's leg.

Lisanna ended up wincing, but she just pursed her lips, and didn't voice her discomfort. Far from it, she much preferred this treatment compared to how he had been acting earlier in the village. Admittedly, he had lost himself in his own rage, and had unknowingly tapped into the dormant magic held within his body. It had been a primal sort of feeling, an instinct of sorts, only amplified by several hundred degrees.

He had seen many acts of depravity and bloodshed in his days as an agent of Alaya working to stop any threats against Humanity. Thus, he had known about the cruelty humans were capable of, but, in that instance, he had been overwhelmed. He did not know it at the time, but the magic stored within his body was what the world of Fiore knew as Take Over magic, an advanced Caster-Type transformation magic that allowed the user to assimilate, or 'take over' the properties of beasts, demons, and anything based on the caster's particular alignment.

In which case, it was not unheard of for practitioners of Take Over magic to lose themselves in their own transformations. The primal instincts of that which the caster took over from the intended target, playing an effect on the earlier stages of a Take Over Mage's development.

Regardless, he himself had no knowledge of such things as he had not had contact with a Wizard of Fiore before. Then again, it was only natural.

Having been raised in a Village away from most popular settlements, it would already be a miracle to meet a Wizard unless said Wizard was on a mission of sorts. After all, Wizards were the minority comprising of only ten percent of the whole population. As such, most Wizards were found in Guilds in the major cities, and this was precisely why he had taken his siblings on the journey to Magnolia.

He wasn't sure which Wizard Guilds existed within the city, but he was sure that the Wizards within, or at least the Master of the guild, could help alleviate the doubts Mirajane still had lingering within her mind about her magic.

"I've brought some fire wood," Mirajane spoke, placing down several handfuls of dry twigs and branches before falling silent and brooding to herself. She was wearing a black cloak which hid most of her features, but she was mainly wearing it to hide her arm.

Although he had helped to bring Mirajane's magic under control and reverted her arm to normal, recent events had had her emotions in a storm that disrupted her already feeble magic control. It was a given though, knowing just how recently she had unlocked her magic.

"Thanks," he spoke before he moved away from Lisanna. "I'll use it later and start a fire to make some soup or do a barbeque."

Mirajane nodded, her features brightening at the mention of food.

In recent days, it had been quite hard on the Strauss siblings traveling alone through a vast forest. Not only did their sudden departure from the village come unexpectedly, but most of their belongings had been burnt away along with their previous home. It was true that they had salvaged what they could find from the ashes, but it was far from enough, and as a result, a majority of the sibling's time was spent just trying to survive.

Of course, he could never allow such a thing to continue, so with a frown, he once again took everything onto his shoulders. Mirajane, Elfman, Lisanna, they were just kids. How could he possibly not push himself after seeing the fatigue on their faces?

He hunted for them, he provided for them, and he even completely exhausted himself to make sure they were safe. Needless to say, travelling unprotected within the forests and wildlands of Fiore was too dangerous for the common people. Not only did fierce animals live in these uninhabited zones, but magical beasts did as well. The effort to drive off countless magical beasts alone was what truly tired him every night.

Unknowingly, his actions put even more pressure and guilt on his siblings, none more so than Mirajane. From their perspective, he was tiring himself day after day with even his complexion growing paler as he offered more and more food to them while surviving off the minimal. They however, remained healthy with even the wounds they had previously suffered healing nicely. To Mirajane, this situation was almost unbearable. It was she who had started everything, yet it was her eldest brother who single-handedly shouldered the debris. One day he was going to tire himself out and fall ill, and just thinking about it felt as if someone was squeezing her heart.

Mirajane's thoughts were an inevitable conclusion. After all, to most people it was no easy feat to continuously hunt for food, but he continued to do it day by day. Eventually…Mirajane didn't want to think about it and just shook her head. She wouldn't let such a day happen.

Regardless of Mirajane, Elfman, and Lisanna's worries, he had no way to read their thoughts and as such remained ignorant; only seeing their apprehensive faces and forcing himself to come up with ways to ease their burdens on the journey to Magnolia.

As he picked up the fire wood Mirajane had gathered, Elfman who was standing at the side suddenly took it from his hands. It was the first time Elfman had ever acted in such a way, and as such, he had been left stunned.

"L-Let me," Elfman spoke, his voice suddenly becoming more determined. "You weren't the only one dad taught to create fires and cook. Just, just rest this time," he spoke solemnly near the end.

He raised a brow, but before he could speak, Mirajane had already shoved him down on his but, and Lisanna quickly planted herself on his lap and stared at him hard as if daring him to do something. Although he knew he could easily move Lisanna off of him as she didn't really weigh much, he chose not to. Instead, he watched as Mirajane went up to Elfman, placed a hand on Elfman's shoulder, and then nodded her head before moving to assist.

The clatter of metal and small trinkets began to echo across a certain part of an area beneath the forest canopy as Mirajane and Elfman fumbled with the pots and pans they had brought out from the bags. The both of them seemed to be bickering about what to make, but in the end, Mirajane had resorted to manhandling Elfman to help cook what she wanted.

The scene was peaceful and reminiscent of the times the siblings had stayed home together laughing around a small table. Unconsciously, Lisanna had pressed herself comfortably in the crook of his shoulder, leaning her back against his chest. He took note of this, and gently wrapped his arms around her and watched as Mirajane and Elfman continued to bicker.

They were growing up. That was something he could definitely see. And yet, did someone like him drenched in the blood of others deserve to be a part of it?

He had seen the looks his siblings had given him after his actions in the village. They had been frightened and unbelieving. Yet they didn't know that he had done worse under the orders of Alaya.

All along, his path and ideals were wrong. His decision to save everyone, his decision to make a pact with the Will of Humanity. In the end, he had planned for an escape, a release. And somehow, this was the result.

Finding himself in Fiore, he had no idea what it was that he should do. Instead, he acted solely on what was in front of him. Protecting his siblings had come naturally to him as it did for when he protected Rin Tohsaka in the Holy Grail war.

Thus, even if he had his doubts if he could belong with them or not, he would not abandon them either. Coming to this conclusion, he allowed himself to relax in the company of his siblings, a once distant feeling surfacing from within him once again. Peace. Just like how it had been when he sat alongside Kiritsugu staring up at the stars.

* * *

It would be almost a month of travelling later that he and his sibling would reach the city of Magnolia. Large gates of around ten feet appeared before them made out of a mixture of cobblestone and a paste of hard material used to cement the pieces together. This was basic amount of protection the city needed in case any magical beasts like Vulcans, a primate type of beast, were to invade. Of course, they wouldn't last against an actual invasion, but Magnolia had Wizards also known as mages for that located within the Guilds. Thus, the walls were simply a necessity.

Walking towards the gate, a group of guards waved them over, and the Strauss siblings quickly complied.

"We'd like to enter the city," he said simply.

The guards looked over them, and after little discussion allowed them in. After all, they were still children in the eyes of the guards, so it wasn't likely that they could mean any harm to Magnolia. In fact, one of the guards even ended up giving Lisanna a small lollipop.

As soon as the siblings stepped through the gate, all their faces brightened.

Magnolia was a vibrant city, with countless people milling about across the streets. Some were bartering and haggling within the shops, and others were walking along with their families. It was a picturesque sort of scene completely different from the scenery of the village the siblings had previously lived at.

The roads were paved.

The houses regularly maintained and cleaned.

Most of all, the people only regarded them curiously rather than with contempt and superstition. It was to the point that no one payed much notice when Lisanna and Elfman began looking at the items displayed in the shops. Rather, the shop keeper's simple smiled at their behaviour.

"Elfman, Lisanna, let's go," Mirajane called after a moment. She herself had been caught up in the contrast between Magnolia and the village. Still, her priorities didn't seem to be effected.

"Mirajane's right," he called. After all, the first thing the siblings had to do was find shelter. Different from their life of traveling, it really wouldn't be pretty to see a group of children sleeping out in the streets. Especially when said children could be his own siblings and himself.

Luckily, his parents had a few savings that he hoped to be able to use to at least rent a place.

Therefore, after settling down both Lisanna and Elfman, the group of them walked towards an inn and rented a room. With the amount of money, he had on hand, he knew that at most they would only be able to stay for four days as a max.

He frowned as he began to think of any solutions, but grew frustrated when he could think of none. Finally, he just settled on finding any miscellaneous type of jobs. Preferably hunting for magical beasts with a bounty. And for that, he knew he would have to join a Guild as that was where most jobs of that variety were found. This was because most employers preferred seeking the help of a mage to insure the completion of the job and as such, issued their requests primarily to Guilds.

Now the only question was, which Guild should he join.

The Phantom Lord Guild's branch had been one he had spotted with his keen eyes in the distance, but he had also seen another prominent Guild situated by the shore on top of a cliffside. Fairy Tail if he could recall the sign overhead. Unable to decide between the two due to a lack of information, he brought it up with his siblings.

"Fairy Tail sounds better," Lisanna immediately said. "Phantom Lord sounds like the name of a bad guy," she reasoned.

"I'm fine with wherever you go," Elfman said.

Lisanna's eyes flickered to Elfman, and she quickly retracted her decision. "I'll go wherever you go too," she said.

Mirajane tapped impatiently with a finger on the table. With the direction of the conversation, it was clear that if they didn't come to a decision, nothing would be accomplished today. Thus, she decided to speak her mind.

"Why don't we just check the both of them?" She suggested.

It was a sound point. He did not have much experience with Guilds so he wasn't really sure of immediately finding an ideal one. Thus, he went along with Mirajane's suggestion.

Still though, as it was late, the group of siblings decided to venture forth in the morning. The room they had rented was small and had two beds that were just barely able to fit all four of them after they were placed side by side with each other. With himself lying down at the center, Lisanna, Elfman, and Mirajane were quick to follow, the four of them falling asleep to the sound of their own breathing.

The next morning came by quicker than expected. Because the room he had rented was facing directly East, the sun's rays were already blinding early in the morning. As such, the sibling had all roused early, rubbing their eyes to rid them of their sleepiness.

Yawning, Mirajane made herself sit by the corner of the bed and simply stared fondly at her siblings, waiting for their grogginess to disappear.

"What time do you want to leave?" Mirajane ended up asking after making eye contact with him.

"Probably after breakfast before the streets get too crowded," he said while pulling the covers off of Lisanna and Elfman and coaxing them awake. "We can visit Phantom Lord first though as it's the nearest," he reasoned.

Mirajane cracked a smile at that moment before walking towards him. She shook her head in amusement. "You were drooling," she said, pointing at him.

He kept a straight face despite the embarrassment and instead gestured to the side of his lips and stated. "Aren't you the same?"

Mirajane's smile froze before quickly turning towards a mirror and promptly wiping away the dried residue by her lips.

He couldn't blame her for drooling though. Admittedly, the two beds set side-by-side was far more comfortable than the ground. This could also account for why Lisanna decided to continue snuggling her face into her pillow rather than getting up. Elfman had thought of doing much the same, but he was older than Lisanna and knew better.

Joining a Guild was something of great importance for the siblings so how could he allow himself to remain in bed? He simply could not, and as such, Elfman took it upon his own hands to get Lisanna away from the bed.

"It's fine," Mirajane said. "Let her stay for a bit while we prepare ourselves for breakfast."

Elfman nodded before getting himself dressed.

He was of similar mind as he did like Elfman and put on his clothes.

Along with the room he had payed for in the previous day, he had also payed for basic food expenses as well. Therefore, as breakfast was being prepared by the inn's staff, all that he and his siblings needed to do was to enter the dining area to be served their food.

Breakfast was a lively affair, with almost everything completely eaten. After days of living off of the same food, it was hard not to get excited about even the simplest of dishes like eggs, toast, and bacon. Soon the siblings returned to the matter at hand and began the walk toward a branch of the Wizard Guild Phantom Lord.

Even from a distance, he could tell one thing from his mind.

This was definitely not a suitable place for his siblings to join. The building was ordinary enough, resembling gothic style architecture with large flying buttresses to act as support. But there was just something about the Guild members.

Lisanna and Elfman clung on to either side of his arms, and even Mirajane subconsciously took shelter behind his broad back.

"The hell is this place," Mirajane muttered, feeling a shiver travel down her back.

"It doesn't seem very friendly either," Elfman spoke, watching two Guild members glaring at each other in the distance.

Unfortunately, he would have to agree with Elfman's deduction. Relying on his past experiences, it wasn't difficult to understand the workings of this Guild. Members would be rewarded based on strength and merit, leaving weaker members to fend for themselves. It was a competitive situation, but one always had to remember that competition breeds supremacy, yet also begets treachery. There are many means to reach a superior position, and the certainty of fair competition was never guaranteed. Yet knowing this, the guild master of Phantom Lord still promoted it?

Hence, even before he and his siblings reached the Guild's gate, he had already begun veering them away.

"We aren't going in?" Lisanna asked hopefully.

"No," he spoke rubbing Lisanna's head. "We can try our luck at Fairy Tail."

With a nod from his siblings, he led the way towards Fiore's most famous Guild.

On the journey, he noticed less and less people in the area which left him a tad confused. What he didn't know at the time was that Fairy Tail had a stark reputation in property damage. Thus, not many residents lived too close to the Guild, making it generally peaceful and free from bustling crowds.

"Why are they staring at us?" Elfman asked, motioning towards a large group of children without pointing. Said group of children had just exited from Fairy Tail's entrance just a few moments prior.

He turned his attention on the group Elfman had spoke of. Indeed, they were staring; particularly at him with widened eyes. Still, he could feel no traces of hostility from them, so he directly ignored them in favour of keeping an eye on his siblings.

"Don't mind them," he spoke. "They don't seem to mean any harm."

Elfman nodded.

Upon arriving directly in front of Fairy Tail's entrance, he let out a breath before turning to his siblings.

"Mirajane," he called. "Can you watch over both Lisanna and Elfman. I'm going to go have a talk with the Guild Master if I can."

Compared to Phantom Lord, he didn't have much worries in leaving his siblings alone by the entrance of Fairy Tail. Not only did he not sense any hostility from them, he felt a welcoming kind of aura instead.

Mirajane easily agreed with his request, and firmly held onto both Lisanna and Elfman to prevent them from wandering out too far.

Entering Fairy Tail's Guild building, he was met with the sight of a tavern of sorts with long wooden tables and men and women laughing and drinking. The hall was quite large, the ceiling several feet into the air, and he could even see a second floor from the railings where one could look down from.

"Don't get your hopes up too high if you're looking up there, kid," a young man spoke, his orange-red like hair swept back. "That's only for the S-Class mages." The man finished speaking as he placed a hand beneath the stubble of his beard.

S-Class mages were the top mages found within any Guild, and were the very Guild's arms and feet. If the Master of the Guild served as the back bone, then it was the S-Class mages were the extensions. They were the strongest mages within the Guild after all.

He raised a brow from the man's statement, but understood the gist of what was being implied.

"Then you are an S-Class?" He asked.

The man nodded his head, seemingly full of himself. "Of course, and the strongest too," the man said. "Though I don't think a kid like you would want to know that. Hell, I've never even seen ya before, but it looks like they have."

The man then pointed at another group of children of similar reaction to the other group of children he had seen outside.

Once again, he could not explain their behaviour. His brows creased. What was really going on?

Still though, he shook his head and decided to put off any questions in favour of his own objectives. "Is the Guild Master in?" He asked.

"Makarov? Yeah, I think I saw him upstairs. What, are you planning on joining?" The man smiled. "The more the merrier I say, ain't I right Cana?"

The man spoke to a little brown-haired girl with a similar hairstyle to Lisanna. She was in a small red one-piece dress, and appeared to be too shy to even answer the man's question. Instead, she seemed to sink inwardly into herself while sitting on a little stool in the corner of the room.

"Y-Yes," Cana spoke timidly before bowing her head.

"See?" The man asked.

He crossed his arms and sighed. "Yes, I may be thinking of joining with my siblings," he admitted.

The man nodded. "Then just go by the counter over there. I'll inform the master and he'll be with you in a moment."

"Thanks," he said before walking over to the counter.

Moments later, a short man appeared in front of him wearing a hat with two protrusions attached on each end making it look like two antennae. The short man's white hair stood up on end on either side of his hat, and his face was old, but still appeared lively. In fact, wrinkles appeared just under the short man's eyes as a smile played on his lips.

"Gildarts tells me we had some new people wanting to join the Guild," the short man spoke warmly. "I'm sure you've heard by now, but my name's Makarov Dreyar, Guild master of Fairy Tail."

"A pleasure," he spoke back cordially. "But, I'm still undecided about joining this Guild yet. Instead I was wondering if you could answer a few questions of mine?" He probed.

Makarov didn't beat around the bush and directly agreed to answer whatever questions he could. But first, Makarov escorted him into a back room in case what he to ask was sensitive topic.

He uncrossed his arms, already liking Makarov's straightforward and warm personality. Still, he needed to make sure. "Does this Guild have any strict rules to follow?" He first asked.

Makarov scratched his head. "Not that I can think of," Makarov admitted. "In Fairy tail, our members are generally allowed a great deal of freedom, and aside being prohibited from killing, there's not much else."

"No killing?" He furrowed his brows. Already he knew from experience that letting a danger go could only lead to greater danger in the future.

"No killing," Makarov's tone was hard, leaving no room for complaint.

"I understand," he said reluctantly. But then again, this kind of environment would indeed be beneficial to his siblings. The fact that Fairy Tail did not tolerate killing meant that those that joined were probably the kinder sorts of people.

"Then my last question," he began. "What magic is this?" Raising his hand, the tips of his fingers instantly began to appear sword-like with no indication of a magic circle.

This was one of his most important questions he could ask of Makarov. As the Guild Master, there was no doubt that the man must have had been extremely knowledgeable about the various kinds of magic within Fiore. Thus, it shouldn't be that difficult for him to pinpoint the exact magic that he and his siblings all possessed.

As expected, Makarov didn't even bat an eye, and instead just looked on curiously. "It seems to be a more advanced form of Take Over Magic as I did not detect the activation of a magic circle," Makarov spoke.

Makarov then went on to discuss what it was that he knew. By the end, he had already settled his reservations with Fairy Tail, and had decided that he would bring Mirajane to have a talk with Makarov. Perhaps then, she wouldn't view her own power as her being a monster like the people in the village said.

"Then, what can I and my siblings do to join?" He said.

Makarov crossed his arms. "Well, I don't really have much requirements, but I can't have anyone just randomly join the guild."

He understood what Makarov implied near instantly. It was a background sort of check. In a way, Makarov was indirectly asking him where he and his siblings had come from. In which case, he decided to hold nothing back and just be truthful.

Little did he know that by the end, Makarov had literally began crying out a river of tears. The man seemed to wear his expressions like an open book which was no wonder why everyone liked him in the Guild. He was an honest and upright Guild Master, although his attire was questionable at times.

"Accepted. Definitely accepted," Makarov spoke animatedly. "Just wait here for a moment and I'll get someone to get the Guild stamp."

His words said, Makarov then left quickly and returned with another Guild member holding a stamp with the symbol of Fairy Tail on it.

"Where would you like it?" The Guild member asked politely.

He thought about it for a moment, and decided to just get it on his shoulder. The stamp was bronze in colour, and didn't really stand out much either which was completely fine with him.

"It looks good," Makarov complimented. "Now for those siblings of yours."

He couldn't help but let out a wry smile as the man stood impatiently waiting for him to call Lisanna, Elfman, and Mirajane.

Not wasting any time at all, he quickly made his way back to the entrance of the Guild where. to his surprise, it was packed with an even larger group of children. At the center of this group stood Elfman, Lisanna, and Mirajane who seemed to be in an argument with a red-haired girl.

He said argument, but Mirajane had already begun butting heads, and from the looks of it, the red-haired girl just reciprocated the action.

He cleared his throat to make his presence known, and trying to diffuse the situation. He could never have had imagined how effective it would be.

Upon sighting him, everyone just stopped, looking at him as if he were a ghost.

"Shirou?" The red-haired girl called hesitantly, moving away from Mirajane and standing next to her blue-haired companion to the side.

A befuddled look appeared over his face, and a disgruntled one appeared over Mirajane's. However, his reaction to the name 'Shirou' was more than enough of an indication to the children in the crowd, and most importantly, the red-haired girl and blue-haired boy who appeared to be the leaders of the group.

He could not understand why these people would know him without ever having met them.

In that moment, it was as if a bomb had gone off in front of the red-haired girl. Her expression shifted from one of relief and surprise to that of righteous anger and indignation. Her features contorted in accordance with her emotions, and even her body had begun to move before the blue-haired individual could stop her.

And by then, it was already too late.

A fist impacted against his face as the red-haired girl called out. "How dare you?!" She all but demanded, pulling him up by the collar in her self anger. "How could you have freed everyone else, gave us hope, a means to move on, and yet still abandon yourself in the end?! You can't do that!" She all but yelled in grief.

The girls face grew pensive. "I-We all thought you were dead," she whispered, letting go of the collar of his shirt and staring him up and down.

He could taste blood in his mouth, but he knew that it was probably due to a split lip.

Absently rubbing the spot of his injury, he knew only a few things at that moment.

One, his cheek stung.

Two, Mirajane looked as if she was about to explode in anger on the red-head.

And three, he had no idea what the _hell_ was going on, causing his irritability to increase.

As far as he was concerned, this was the first time he had even met _any_ of these people. Yet somehow, they all knew his name. If that didn't confuse him enough, it was the fact that his attacker seemed to be on the verge of tears, her eyes glistening and a slight tremble in her body.

Frustrated, he scratched his head and asked the only question he was truly concerned about.

"Who are you people?"

Unexpectedly, his question was met with a deathly silence.

* * *

Erza and Jellal had arrived at Fairy Tail with Rob in the last few weeks of traveling.

After arriving, Rob had immediately spoken on their behalf to Makarov Dreyar, the Master of the Guild, and had then arranged for them a place to stay. The majority of the girls took residence in Fairy Hills, Fairy Tail's girls dormitory, while the boys moved into another dormitory.

This was their start at a new beginning different from the one within the Tower of Heaven. As such, it wouldn't have been unexpected if many of the young boys and girls Rob, Erza, and Jellal had travelled with showed signs of exuberance and thrill. However, this wasn't the case.

A figure had always lingered in the bottom of their minds. The one who had brought light and warmth to a place of cruel intentions, and had even taken the risk to save them. Many knew how difficult it was to escape the Tower of Heaven; meaning that the more people one wished to escape with, the harder the difficulty. Even with such odds, this figure did not relent in the slightest and had gone as far as to sacrifice himself.

The boy who could turn a bitter meal into an extravagant one.

The boy who took on the hardships that others could not.

Shirou Emiya

From the facial structure, and even in the way that this white-haired boy stood. It was identical.

Yet, many were skeptical. However, none had the courage to step up to him after seeing that he did not recognize any of them. Even more so when he seemed to be acquainted with the other children he had brought with him.

Thus, when the white-haired boy entered Fairy Tail's building, many of the children who escaped from the Tower of Heaven dispersed and sought out those who knew Shirou Emiya the most. In which case, Erza and Jellal were the first to be found.

Both of them were skeptical, and that was indeed a given knowing what they had seen at the last moments of the Tower of Heaven. Nothing could have survived that last attack. Nothing had remained of the tower, and not a single person could even be seen drifting in the ocean.

As such, as soon as Erza and Jellal had arrived, there was no doubt about their curiosity. The only difference was in their individual approaches. Jellal was far more level-headed than Erza, adopting a wait-and-see approach, while Erza herself walked right up to the children Shirou had been leading.

Their names were Mirajane, Elfman, and Lisanna.

At first the conversation had been cordial and polite between both parties, but that all changed the moment Erza tried to bring up Shirou, the white-haired boy. Mirajane had instantly given her a dark look and refused to answer any questions related to the subject.

After all, to Mirajane, Erza and everyone else present seemed way too eager to meet with her eldest brother. It was too suspicious and reminded Mirajane of the tenuous weeks after the people in the village found out about her condition. The way they would indirectly observe or ask if Shirou was present or not was entirely grating. Even more so when Mirajane, Elfman, and Lisanna knew that it was solely because of Shirou that the villagers were reluctant to attack them.

This memory and the way Erza grew more and more frustrated after Mirajane's refusals lead to the confrontation between the two.

Elfman and Lisanna stood awkwardly at the sides by Mirajane, but at least the others around them didn't give them any reproachful looks. Rather, some of them even apologized for the inconvenience, showing that they weren't actually bad people. By then, Lisanna was already trying to get Mirajane to calm down while Elfman stood helplessly by the side. Yet nothing Lisanna did or said though appeared to effect Mirajane. After all, Mirajane was too caught up in her argument.

Similarly, Jellal was also trying to appease Erza, but his efforts were doomed to fail the moment Mirajane said that she'd never let them meet with Shirou.

"Say that again, I dare you!" Erza seethed.

Mirajane pushed her bangs away from her eyes before grunting. "I said that as long as I'm here, I'd never let you meet with my Brother."

Erza's heart began to beat faster as the frustration began bubbling from within her. Sure, she was happy if Shirou had family outside the Tower of Heaven, but she didn't even know if this was 'Shirou' or not, and Mirajane was preventing her from ascertaining. It was infuriating.

"I just want to meet him," she spoke through gritted teeth. "What's your problem anyway? We've literally just met."

Mirajane shrugged. "And already I don't like you," she said.

Lisanna was pulling on Mirjane's arm to get her attention, but Mirajane was too focused on the matter at hand to notice.

"Erza, calm down," Jellal spoke, placing a hand on Erza's shoulder when he felt the fluctuations in her magic and the way her hands were balled into fists.

Erza's magic was Requip Magic, the magic both Erza and Jellal believed Shirou possessed after confirmation from Rob in the Tower of Heaven. Initially, when Erza first discovered her magic, she had become quite solemn as it was a reminder of Shirou who they had lost at the tower. Still though, it didn't stop her from practicing.

"I know," Erza relented after Jellal's warning. She then calmed her mind to control her magical power.

Jellal nodded his head before whispering into her ear. "Try going for a compromise or something," he said. "After all, we don't even know if this is Shirou or not. What we want is just a good look."

Erza agreed as Jellal's reasoning was sound. However, seeing the smirk on Mirajane's face, Erza instantly wiped away any notions of compromise in her mind. _Bitch._

The argument would last for the better part of half-an-hour before Shirou himself returned from within the Guild.

He looked exactly as described.

From any angle, he looked exactly the same as the Shirou both Erza and Jellal knew from the Tower of Heaven.

It was simply too much to handle, and Erza had already acted before Jellal could gather his thoughts. This lead to the current situation.

Yet what really caused everyone present to falter, was the words Shirou had spoke after Erza's out burst.

"Who are you?"

They were just three simple words, yet their implication was just too stunning.

Erza and Jellal didn't know what exactly happened within that tower of light that emerged at the destruction of the Tower of Heaven, but they had come to their own conclusions.

The Shirou standing in front of Erza and Jellal had his hair entirely changed into a light shade of grey. Yet worst of all, it appeared that Shirou had actually lost his own memories.

"S-Shirou, you don't remember?" Erza asked hesitantly.

One's memories were the most important aspect of an individual as, in a way, a person's memories make up who one was. For example, if she and Jellal had no memory of the Tower of Heaven, then how could they be sure that they would turn out the same.

Shirou's expression hardened before he stared at Erza who had just punched him. "You can call me Archer," he said. His family in this world was one thing, but others calling him 'Shirou' was another. He had long ago abandoned that name and the ideals he had once sought after. "And no, I do not ever recall meeting you all."

His words were like knives stabbing into Erza's heart, making her body suddenly go weak.

Mirajane only crossed her arms by the side and decided to watch how events would play out alongside Elfman and Lisanna. Even if she had her disagreements with Erza, and even if she was still seething after Erza had punched Archer, she couldn't bring herself to do anything after seeing Erza's face. It had grown pale, and there was a tremble in her lips.

Mirajane turned her gaze away. This wasn't the same girl she was arguing with moments prior. The expression on Erza's face was similar to her own after realizing that her parents had passed away.

"Then, Archer," Erza bit out. "D-Do you recall what this is?"

Hesitantly, Erza activated her magic. Small ripples appeared in the world accompanied by a small magic circle. Moments later, two swords were pulled out. They were short and curved blades. One black, and the other white, and the both of them were strongly kept together by an unknown force.

Archer's face stiffened at the sight.

He knew those swords.

There was no way for him to mistake them for he favoured them the most.

Kanshou and Bakuya, the swords forged by a famed blacksmith and his wife.

Archer swallowed slowly. There was no way he could lie about not knowing those swords, and even if he didn't say anything, his expression was enough.

Seeing this, both Erza and Jellal internally sighed in relief. Apparently not all memories were lost. And if his memory of the sword remained, didn't that mean they could help him regain the rest?

"Where did you get these," Archer pressed.

"In the escape," Jellal answered, stepping up beside Erza. "When everyone was running away, you alone were fighting against the enemy mages using this pair of swords and the other pairs you pulled out."

Archer's lips thinned. Thinking about what Jellal had just said, an inkling of suspicion was beginning to take root from within him, and it was not a pleasant feeling. Regardless though, he would remain adamant on his own words.

"I am _not_ who you think I am," he spoke.

For a moment, Jellal actually believed Archer. Now that he was actually beside Archer and speaking with him, he instantly noticed the difference in mannerism to the Shirou that he knew. Yet apart from that, something inside him just insisted that this _was_ Shirou. Just that his personality somehow became altered.

A magic of sorts perhaps?

"If you're truly not him," Jellal began as an idea began to formulate in his mind. "Then tell me what you think of my next words?"

Archer rose a brow, a scowl over his face, but it was evident that he was prompting Jellal to go on.

"In our escape from a place known as the Tower of Heaven, I was able to hear the words spoken in the midst of all the chaos," Jellal revealed. Even now he could recall the power and influence found in those words. They were simply magical.

"Just get on with it," Archer spoke as he crossed his arms. His appearance was one of indifference as if all the events currently being spoken of had nothing to do with him. And yet, they _did_ have something to do with him. And this was only made clear to him after Jellal's exact words.

" _I am the bone of my sword_."

The words resonated completely with Archer. How could it not when those words were the very lines that began the manifestation of his own Soul, his Reality Marble; the only equivalent to a Noble Phantasm that he as an Archer-class Servant in the Holy Grail War was able to possess under his own name.

Archer scowled, there and then mood completely turning for the worst.

Despite the stares on his back and the shouts of those around him, he quickly left the scene after noticing Makarov's arrival. His siblings should be alright with Makarov being present.

For now, Archer wished to be alone to clear his head from the murderous feeling welling up from inside him.

Listening to the events Jellal and Erza had described, it was easy for him to come to his own conclusions. And the words Jellal had spoken, had all but confirmed his growing suspicions.

He had not been the only one transported into Fiore.

A Fool had too.

* * *

 **Thanks for Reading!**

 **P a treon. com (slash) Parcasious**

 **Next update: The Vasto of White (Around Tuesday or Wednesday)**

-Note: Started a Fiction Press account on the Fanfiction Sister site and published a story: The Lonely Peak for any interested. The Sister site is actually quite fun for those wanting to practice writing a completely original story. It will be a side hobby of sorts.


	10. Guild Mission

Thinking about it now, perhaps he should have handled the situation a little less irritably than he did, but past prejudice prevented him from doing so.

It was, after all, a reminder of what he once was and his previous goals.

Yet now that he found himself in this world without the influence of anything to tie him down, why should it matter anymore?

Thorough and quick-witted as he was, it did not take long before he came to such a conclusion.

Sighing, he couldn't quite dispel the irritation of the previous event, even more so when he realized that he may have to explain his actions.

He snorted.

No one would understand anyway.

His eyes scanned his surroundings of the residential area within Magnolia by the harbour district. It was in one of these buildings that he envisioned himself acquiring for the stability of his siblings.

Just, the prices were daunting.

Astronomically higher than what he thought was reasonable.

Having grown up in the Small Village, currency was not dependant on the amount of money, or jewels as many residents would call it. Instead, it was a combination between resources and the money one had on hand. If a person were short on funds, they could give out something of value that they owned.

He himself had participated in such transactions.

Since the passing of his parents of this world, not much money was left on hand to feed the mouths of four growing children. Aside from himself, what mattered most was obtaining an optimal amount of nutrition in a diet for his siblings. As such, he had traded his own self-made equipment on top of cash. From wood carvings to axe handles, he sold a plethora of miscellaneous things which depended on the buyer's personal tastes.

Regardless though, in the Small Village, everything was straight forward.

Didn't have enough jewels on hand?

Trade something else in replacement.

Here in Magnolia though, Jewels were the sole currency.

Looking at the price of the flyer in his hand and then to the building in front of him, he momentarily lost his irritation regarding the events at Fairy Tail.

The price in front of him was just that expensive.

Scowling, he scratched his head before reluctantly walking on.

The sound of his feet was barely heard within the clamor of the bustling crowd, but it was preferable that way as he fell into silent contemplation. He knew that to be able to make enough jewels to purchase a residence, his best chance was to return to Fairy Tail and ask Makarov about Guild Missions.

Guild Missions were missions specifically undertakable by Mages of legal Guilds across Fiore. They ranged in difficulty from C to B to A, and to S, with S being the most difficult.

In his case, he didn't really care for difficulty, just the pay which increased exponentially with each level of designated rank.

It was just that he had to register himself for the specific Guild Mission, and doing that meant returning to the Guild.

The Guild itself was not the reason for his apprehension, rather, he feared the others there would ignite his anger by reminding him of things he would rather forget. Feelings he had thought that he had long since discarded.

How Foolish.

His hands clenched into fists.

 _I want to be Hero._

It was like swallowing a bitter pill. One that he refused to acknowledge.

He didn't have to meet anyone, he decided.

 _"_ _T-Then when will you come home?"_

His back stiffened as he walked, recalling the faces his siblings made whenever he decided to venture out on his own, whether for hunting or looking for work. In a way, they weren't any different to how they normally looked, rather it was the misgiving and uneasiness expressed in their eyes that always caused him to look away.

He was a hardened man, with very little able to affect him, but this was somehow different.

Having no recollection of a blood family before, this was his first time experiencing what was perhaps known as familial instinct.

His brows creased.

Moments later he decided to leave a note for his siblings, or drop by before somehow undertaking a mission.

For now, his greatest concern was reaching Makarov to discuss the concept of Guild Missions without running into Erza, Jellal, and the group of other children following them. In this way, avoiding a relapse of the earlier situation.

He did not have the time nor patience to deal with those kinds of people right now.

Estimating the path ahead of him, he closed his eyes and laid down a mental map of his position and the direction he needed to take to return to the Guild. Having previously left the Guild in a hurry, he had a vague image of how far he had travelled.

From his location, Fairy Tail was directly north of him, and he could arrive there within the hour by taking the main road. Clearly though, that was not what he was intending on doing.

The speed of his steps gradually increased before he took a detour in the side alleys and began circumventing around the objects around him. The garbage bags, and the less savoury things generally kept away from the public eye. Of course, that included the less fortunate. All of this was just so that he could circle around Fairy Tail and make his way into the building from the backdoor if the Guild had one. If not, there was always a window he could find or help create.

His presence in the alleys went unnoticed by the inhabitants who couldn't care less about the matters of another brat in the area. They were too busy dealing with their own lives to care since not everyone could be a mage, nor be fortunate enough to land a steady income.

With the skills that he possessed, it didn't take him long to arrive back at the Guild.

Yet instead of entering immediately, he surveyed the area first. Of the people present before he left, only one or two remained, and that included his siblings and Jellal. Both Lisanna and Elfman were crowded around Mirajane who was glaring hard at an uncomfortable looking Jellal.

From his discerning eyes, it appeared as if Mirajane was at the point of exchanging blows, but Elfman and Lisanna were preventing her.

Shifting his weight between his feet, he let out a sigh before tracing his black bow and a blunt dagger in which he altered into a projectile arrow. Fiddling with his hands, he then attached a small note to the end of the arrow's shaft and fired it, not even glancing back before he moved to enter a window of the guild, arriving inside an office of sorts.

"Your actions don't appear to be the wisest," Makarov spoke from his position sitting on top of a desk.

He grunted in response. "And I suppose you would be the judge of that? Meddling isn't something an elder should be partaking in," he said.

Makarov took off his hat before speaking. "And neither is troubling others something a child like yourself should be partaking in. You have to understand the circumstances regarding those children. They've already been through more than can be imagined."

He didn't reply back.

After all, he could already picture what Makarov meant. Despite the events Erza and Jellal had described to him about the other 'him' in Fiore, it was still watered down. Parts where omitted to save time, and numerous events were left unexplained and glazed over. For example, the entirety of the place Jellal and the rest were detained in and subject to labour, became just the Tower of Heaven. With the basic question from either of the two, worded like so, 'do you not remember what happened in the Tower of Heaven?'

He did not know the context, but he had deduced a general understanding from the bandages around the other children that had gathered near Erza.

That alone was enough.

More than enough for an Ally of Justice to act.

And the sheer gratitude of such an action, well, the results were apparent.

Just seeing him alone was enough to gather a group so large.

Makarov seemed to see something in him during the silence and spoke with a lighter tone.

"I see you've actually thought it over," Makarov spoke with a brow raised and hands falling to his lap where he placed his hat. "But that doesn't explain your subsequent actions," Makarov stared with a discerning eye, before shrugging moments later. "There are some things that every person doesn't wish to disclose. In this case, I won't pry further, but I expect you to watch your behaviour. Children are emotional, and may take things the wrong way."

"Then so be it," he crossed his arms. "I've actually come here for a different matter."

"And that would be?" Makarov asked, placing his hat back on.

"High level Guild Missions," he said.

The hat Makarov was placing on his head seemed to freeze along with the hands putting it on.

The expression on Makarov's face was one of befuddlement, his eyes wide, and mouth open before the man composed himself.

"You want a High level Guild Mission?" Makarov spoke, coughing into his hand in an attempt to mask his earlier mishap.

However, Makarov's question and reaction were reasonable.

He and his siblings had just joined the Guild hours ago, but here he was now already asking for a high-level mission. It was more difficult, but it provided more pay.

Still, Makarov just did not know how to answer right away.

As time went on, he could tell though from the shifting of Makarov's expression that a refusal was about to come on. Then again, he had anticipated such an action. His physical body was still that of child's, and like most children who unlocked their magic at an early age, Makarov must have thought him overconfident in his abilities.

What made the odds worse was that he had a general understanding of Makarov's personality. The man was too kind, and he knew for certain that after Makarov had heard of what happened in his and his sibling's lives, that the man would attempt to shelter them for a time.

Well, he didn't need it.

It was a caring and understandable approach for his siblings, but it was different for him. He had endured hardships far worse. Alaya had made sure of that.

"I'm afraid that I'll have to ref-"

"What if I can prove that I'm strong enough to handle it?" He cut in.

Perhaps because of the look in his eyes, or the way he carried himself, Makarov did not rebuke him, just remaining silent in contemplation before sighing.

"That depends," Makarov stood up from the desk and walked around it to open a drawer on the other side; taking from it a small parchment and handing it over. Makarov then made his way towards the exit of the room, pausing by the opened door. "How capable do you think you are?"

He looked at the information recorded on the parchment given to him in his hand, a strange gleam appearing in his eyes.

"For something like this-" he folded the piece of parchment and pocketed it, his expression neutral. "The results may turn out differently that what you can expect."

* * *

By the time he had gotten back to the lodgings he had rented with his siblings previously, he was certain that he was being watched. No matter how many detours he took, it appeared impossible to identify everyone who had an interest in him.

Thus, he didn't mind it much anymore, already having an idea on the individuals who would even care to look his way. Yet none of them approach him, which was completely fine with him.

In fact, he preferred it.

Releasing a breath, he walked back into his lodgings where his siblings vacantly stared at him without saying anything. After sending the note to them through the arrow he fired, he had told them to wit for him back at the lodgings.

He stared back, and it was they whose expressions broke down first like he expected.

Mirajane pursed her lips, turning her eyes away while Lisanna and Elfman appeared to be in the process of deciding whether or not to run up to him.

In the end, the both of them did after Lisanna ran over bawling and clung to his arm, leaving only Mirajane who was hesitating. She would be a strong woman in the future, of that he was sure.

It was clear though that they were just concerned about him, and were shaken after he had left without telling them a word. It was perhaps the first time he had ever done so.

And perhaps the only time he would ever do so if his siblings had anything to say about it.

 _And they did._

Well, Mirajane mostly. Eflman was never too outspoken and Lisanna was to busy hugging him to care.

They obviously didn't take his actions well, even Mirajane.

They didn't say anything, but all of them refused to leave his side even if they didn't voice it. Mirajane lingering in the corner of the room, and Lisanna and Elfman playing at the center, yet they continued to glance at him sporadically. He himself was in another corner of the room staring out the window.

There was no way they were letting him out of their sight for the time being, so with a sigh, he then turned his attention to the lodgings bill he had in hand.

He and his siblings would only be good for a couple days longer, give or take a week, or two if they were frugal.

This only set up his resolution more. He would not allow his siblings to live in the streets once their remaining funds depleted. Of course, Makarov had offered them a place to stay at the Fairy Dormitories, but other than himself, his siblings had refused adamantly. They were repulsed solely on the fact that they would be separated due to gender, a male's dorm and a female's dorm respectively. He had reasoned that they weren't actually separating and could meet at anytime, but his words fell on deaf ears.

After all, his siblings were sadly used to sleeping next to each other to draw comfort, he being in the middle to wrap his arms around them and pull them close.

He knew that it would take them years to get out of the habit, and it was enough motivation for him to get a Guild Mission as soon as possible to buy their own lodgings. They could start small with separate rooms.

He took the parchment Makarov had given him earlier and re-read the contents.

It was an assessment. Following the normal procedures of Guild Missions, a mage must first be assessed to determine what difficulty of mission said mage can undertake. Should he not be able to meet any of them, then Makarov would surely prevent him from taking any mission.

Yet it was because this was assessment that he was so confident that he could pass and excel. No matter what form of examination he will have to endure, he didn't worry for he was simply experienced enough.

His assessment would begin at the dawn of the next morning at the forest located a short distance behind Fairy Tail.

Till then,

He smiled wryly as Lisanna approached him holding her toys.

He would just have to do his job as an older brother.

* * *

He arrived early on the next morning.

The sun was just peaking above the clouds, and the air was still thick with the smell of early morning dew.

Aside from himself, no one else was present in the area which was a clear patch of grass surrounded by forest on all sides. The Fairy Tail building could be seen just beyond the trees.

He began stretching, recalling his morning.

Waking up, it had been a hassle to pull himself away from the grips of his siblings sleeping near him. Even more so to do it without waking anyone up.

His stomach growled in the silence of the early morning, but he simply furrowed his brows and ignored it.

He didn't have breakfast, he never did nowadays. Instead, he left breakfast out on the table for Mirajane, Elfman, and Lisanna to eat when they eventually woke up. Of course, he had left them a note this time. In which case, he can at least argue that he had given them notice.

A weak excuse by anyone's standards, but regardless, it was what he had done.

Now all that was left was to wait for Makarov and undergo any assessments the man would have for him to see proof of his eligibility to take a Guild Mission.

By the time Makarov arrived, the sun had finally passed over the clouds and was sitting idly up in the sky, illuminating the patch of land he was waiting in with golden rays.

By this point, he had already been sitting in the clearing for well over an hour, and it was soon reaching the time his siblings would normally wake up at. By then, he wondered what their reactions would be when they woke up and found out he was gone. He could only hope that they wouldn't neglect the small note he had left by the fridge in their worry.

With how long Makarov had made him wait, he probably could have told them in person of his whereabouts just so they wouldn't worry. Though he wouldn't divulge the specifics of why he was there. They didn't need to know that he was signing himself up to undergo potentially life-threatening missions. Or, on another thought, perhaps he could have had even finished the assessment before his siblings even woke up.

Now if only he hadn't had to wait for so long.

To be fair, Makarov appeared embarrassed having realized he had not specified a specific time to meet in the morning.

Makarov had several items in his hands, the first of which appeared to be a paper test of some sort while the others were magical tools.

Placing the items in his hands down, Makarov then began explaining how this assessment was going to work.

To be able to send out mages on Guild Missions, there were really only three things that needed to be tested on.

The first of which Makarov explained to be a test of practicality. Of the three it was basically just a formality. It was a test of Common sense if one were to dumb it down. After all, Guilds had to at least make sure that their mages sent to fulfill a mission would not do something too detrimental such as attack the client.

The first assessment was handled fairly easily, Makarov handing him a stack of papers that required worded answers. The Questions were mainly about what one would do when faced with various situations. He would then have to answer them in the best way possible.

Most of the questions he handled easily, answering in a way a child, like his appearance suggested, should not be able to answer. Thereby elevating the idea that he was far more mature for his age.

This caused a great deal of surprise for Makarov, but he kept quiet, showing approval to most of the answers given.

It was only near the end of the first assessment that Makarov showed any disapproval. The question in itself was whether to fend of a beast of sorts attacking a group of individuals near the borders of an established settlement or not when one is too weak. The question then went into details about the personality of the beast and its vindictive nature, and the inability of the person who would attempt to save the group of individuals. At best, this person could only fend off the beast while sustaining heavy injuries, and in a slim margin, even potentially slay the beast.

When it came time for him to answer this kind of question, in the end, he had chosen to not save them. This is what caused Makarov to frown, and even more so when Makarov read the entirety of his answer.

He did not deny saving the group of individuals just because he did not have the ability, but reading into the answer, he didn't save the group of individuals in order to save a greater number of people.

As the question had explained, the beast was vindictive. Should he, as a weak person, be unable to save the group, then everyone would die; the beast potentially moving to attack the nearby settlement due to its nature. Similarly, if he just fended it off but got injured in the process, there was no way that the beast would not retaliate in some way. In this case, running in the direction of the nearby settlement was another potential outcome that was unfavourable. The only one that was worse being the situation in which he died, the group of individuals died, and the beast still attacked the settlement after growing enraged from the efforts of a meddler.

All these situations were simply potentials. Archer with his mind had simply come up with the most practical answer that could save the most lives. Don't help, and instead notify the nearby settlement of the beast and help fortify it, or even evacuate it. Thus, saving a greater number of people rather than risking everything on a slim chance alone.

Makarov could accept the answer, but it didn't mean that he like it.

Yet, even if Makarov didn't like the answer to the final question, it didn't mean that Archer couldn't pass the assessment. After all, a mage's abilities were more important in regards to Guild Missions. It just showed that perhaps his reasoning was a bit skewed if not tactical. Instead of taking the chance of defeating the beast, it was more practical to use a method that guaranteed at least saving the majority.

Still, common sense, to a certain degree, didn't really have much weight when compared to the other last assessments. The Second one was much the same, but had a tad more importance.

Reluctantly, Makarov moved on with the next assessment which didn't take long at all as he had already passed it.

The Second assessment had to do with a Guild's reputation. A representation sort of assessment as each mage participating in a Guild Mission completely represented their home guild. As such, before a Guild Master could send a Guild Member on a mission, they had to make sure that the mage sent would not harm the reputation of the guild.

A character test was what the assessment was.

However, for most Guilds including Fairy Tail, the Guild Master had already considered once's character from the moment one was accepted into the Guild. Which was why Makarov only briefly touched over the second assessment and directly moved into the third.

The third assessment was magical power and capability.

This was obviously the most important with the other two being more closely associated with formality.

As stated before, ability was often the deciding factor with guild missions. If one was not strong enough, it didn't matter how well a mage represented their guild, or how careful and thought out a mage was, they would still be unqualified to take a difficult mission.

"These items are the magic tools I ended up borrowing from the Magic Council," Makarov explained as he set one down in the middle of the clearing.

It was odd in shape, like a dumbbell attacked to a vice-clamp with either side having a small sphere of glowing magic energy.

"This first one is just one that tests the magic output of a mage," Makarov explained.

He nodded his head. He figured that out from the moment he laid eyes on the tool. Thus, before Makarov could even tell him how to operate it, he was already stepping forward to place his hands on it. One on top of the device on one sphere, and the other on the bottom as he closed his eyes and channeled his magic.

Almost immediately, the tool began to emit a static like noise while an image of a gauge could be seen filling up from the mist produced.

This gauge measured the magic output present within a mage's body and functioned by sampling the potency of the mage's magic circulated through the hands. The higher the potency, the more likely the mage possessed larger reserves.

However, what neither he nor Makarov expected occurred.

His magic was somehow different in quality from other mages in the world. Rather than give a reading, the gauge remained somewhat steady at zero, just barely reaching the minimum margin for one.

He was momentarily at a loss, realizing that nothing he could do could alter this result. Makarov may very well prevent him from taking any missions at all at this point if he didn't even have enough reserves to fuel his magic. Yet he knew he had enough, it was just that this tool wasn't picking it up.

Makarov stood in silence, his face still showing surprise, but it quickly shifted to a calm neutral.

It was then that Archer narrowed his eyes and stared hard at the tool in front of him. If this tool couldn't detect his magic, then he would have to do something about.

 _Trace on._

A burst of his magic instantly travelled into the sphere, where he immediately began a form of magecraft he was proficient in, Alteration. It was magic ability that allowed him to alter the components and functions of objects. For example, like twisting a sword to become more arrow like to be launched from his bow. In this case, he attempted to alter how the magic tool detected magic reserves, syncing it with the same properties as his own.

This process took around a minute, and only ended just when Makarov was about to call an end to the assessment.

A loud ringing sound resounded in the clearing, the gauge displayed by the magic tool seeming to shimmer before fading to be replaced by a transparent gem. From the bottom of this gem, a deep red began to crawl up.

Makarov was confused with the sudden changes, but it seems that he had calmed down quickly enough to determine what was going on.

Although the appearance of the gauge had changed, the magic tool was still doing its function. The crawling red colour of the gem being an indication of the magic reserves Archer possessed.

The only thing that threw Makarov off though, was the difference in measured units. For some reason, there were only a few specific lines of reference. The lowest being rank E, and the highest, Rank A.

Slowly the red continued to creep up until stopping a tad above the B-rank line. The magic tool then proceeded to stop functioning, turning off as Archer released his grip on the tool.

Makarov wasn't quite sure what the B-rank entailed, but it was a single letter down from A so it must be equivalent to a high enough magical reserve.

"With your reserves, it should be enough for you to undertake some B level or A level missions assuming you have optimum control of your magic. In which case, the last thing for this assessment to conclude would be magical power. So long as you pass this next assessment, I will allow you to begin undertaking higher level Guild Missions at your age just as you've wanted. After all, you don't need to go through any assessments just to take some of the less difficult Guild Missions."

Archer nodded his head to Makarov's words.

"Then let's get this over with," he said.

Makarov walked to the center of the clearing and first picked up the initial magic tool to replace it with another. This new magic tool was shaped like a box with a hole shaped opening on of its flat sides.

With the hole facing up, Makarov activated the magic tool, and a thick magic barrier emitted from it. Large magic circles hovered in the air, fueling the barrier.

"Just attack it with your strongest magic," Makarov said. "The magic tool will resist it by using an equal force, and in turn, the power will be ranked numerically based on the power of the recoil."

The magic tool was exactly as Makarov had said.

It was fairly straight forward.

Closing his eyes, and then opening them, he stretched out his hands and promptly began the assessment.

Makarov's eyes remained glued to the scene in curiosity. During the conversation, he had with Archer just before Archer and his siblings joined, Archer had glazed over the part where he took his siblings away from the village. It was also the part where Archer claimed to have had awakened his magic. In this case, how strong of a magic was it and what type?

Mirajane had Take-Over Magic based on what Archer had explained. Could this mean that Archer possessed a similar Take-Over magic? Yet that didn't seem to be the case, instead, something else was happening.

A weapon gradually began to form within Archer's hands.

Seeing Archer's magic, Makarov didn't give away his thoughts, rather he appeared to be contemplating deeply about something. It was only when Archer completed his weapon that Makarov voiced any opinion.

"A magic weapon?" Makarov said in surprise, a bit of doubt in his tone as he watched a spear appear.

It was red in colour, and had a sharp point that could easily pierce through steel given enough force. From the murderous intent coming from the spear, Makarov's expression turned increasingly grave as the idea of a cursed weapon filtered into his mind. However, Makarov didn't voice this.

Instead, it was more likely that the spear in Archer's hand had a magic effect of some sort. Still, a single magic weapon would not be enough to qualify a mage for higher ranked guild mission, but perhaps a combination of them could.

Archer could detect the doubt in Makarov's tone as he lined himself up with the magic device in front of him. Yet, he could only smirk at that moment.

He crouched low, and immediately pounced forward and into the air before aiming the spear in his hand.

A red vortex seemed to form around him.

This wasn't a weapon he used frequently.

It wasn't his strongest either.

But it would suit the situation well for now.

 **"** ** _Gae Bolg!"_**

The spear of the hound of Ulster took flight once more.

Moments later,

Numerous explosion tore apart the very area in front of him into ashes. Piles of wood, timber, and debris were still falling towards the ground in piles of pale smoke similar to the colour now on Makarov's stiff face.

Just a magic weapon?

No, this was a _Noble Phantasm._

* * *

The next day had him waking up early yet again due to leaving his sibling behind to prevent them from worrying about him taking a Guild mission.

Unavoidably, he left just a note and breakfast for them for a second time, fully knowing their thoughts about the matter.

That is, they hated it. They having voiced it to him the previous day when he returned from Makarov's assessment.

He would probably be in for it when he returned, but he could cross that bridge when it came.

For now, he was making his way towards the Guild Missions board to look for an adequate job to make enough jewels.

Makarov had yet to get back on him with permission to enter the second floor and have access to the S-rank missions, but he was sure that it was because some other process was involved. As for why he couldn't find the man at the moment, it was probably because the man was still recovering from his shock.

Magic weapons and Noble Phantasms could not possibly be put to test on the same field.

It was like comparing the fire power between a pistol and an RPG.

By the end of Makarov's assessment, the man didn't even have the energy to reply let alone realize the testing equipment he had loaned from the Magic Council was destroyed.

Perhaps he was dealing with the repercussions of that now actually? It didn't matter.

What did, was that he was certain that Makarov had told him that he qualified for A and B-rank missions. Which is why he now stood where the Guild missions where posted.

Namely, the board by the bar counter of the guild.

He didn't expect a surprise for him though.

Looking up at the Guild Missions board, he stood rooted in place, staring at a single mission flyer that no one was even glancing at.

It was a search and rescue mission for a single individual with a labeled difficulty that wasn't even close to a B-rank, more of a C, but it still held his unfaltering attention.

The number of jewels offered was meager.

The paper the mission was printed on was also in tatters.

Numerous thoughts filtered through his mind as he reached out and stared at the mission advertisement, most of which caused him to frown. He looked at it repeatedly, but the mission's contents didn't change.

All the mission paper had was three lines.

 _Missing: Shirou Emiya_

 _Client: Erza Scarlet and Jellal Fernandes._

 _Jewels: One-Thousand._

* * *

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 **P a treon. com (slash) Parcasious**

 **Next update:** **Fate in Time** **(Around Wednesday to Friday)**

 **The next story update after that: Sunday**


	11. Mission 1

Archer clicked his tongue as he made his way down Magnolia's street; a bag of groceries in his hands that he had just bought from the jewels he had earned from his latest mission hunting rabid beasts for the local farmers.

Based on appearance alone, he was still a teenager at best because of his height. Simply because of that he had to start out with lower-rated missions until Fairy Tail's administrates were able to sort out his skill and designate him a Wizard class.

Till then, he busied himself with miscellaneous missions, but at least he now earned enough to make due with the peaceful life he was providing for his siblings. If he wasn't around, perhaps Mirajane would have had to take his place, yet he was reluctant to allow such a thing as her magic control wasn't optimum.

Should she transform randomly in the middle of a mission without warning, it may cause undesirable effects towards herself and the applicant. After all, she'd have to start out like he had: choosing unranked lower rated missions where the ignorance of others may cause complications.

He fiddled with his keys as he reached the door of the apartment he was living in. It was small, and made out of brick and tile, and insulated with wools and pressed mud. Yet the prices were reasonable and the neighbors were friendly. They even doted on Lisanna and Elfman the last time the two were playing outside. To make it even better, their neighborhood was situated just outside a river canal where venders would sell their wares and products, making it easier to go shopping as he was now.

With a click of the lock, Archer entered his small home.

"You're back," Mirajane simply stated, her hands crossed as she glared at him.

Elfman was standing awkwardly down the end of the hall, and Lisanna was hanging off of Mirajane's leg with a troubled expression. Mirajane ignored it however.

"I'm back," he said simply.

Turning his back to Mirajane, he took off the brown coat over his shoulders and hung it on a rack before taking the groceries he had on hand to the kitchen adjacent.

Mirajane's gaze followed all of his actions, however, he knew her well enough to know that she was already near her breaking point.

"Why didn't you take me with you?" She pressed restlessly, her expression growing sour as she revealed the subject of her discontent. "You let Erzan and Jellal come? I saw them just this morning."

He shook his head sternly while placing the meats into the freezer, and the produce into the fridge. In regards to Erza and Jellal, he was hard pressed as to what to do with them. They were only acting out based on their emotions, and nothing wrong had actually come out of it. Therefore, there was no need for him to act despite growing irritated from it all. Just another thing to blame on the 'Hero,' he supposed. But then again, at least he didn't have to kill him now. At most, he could probably just tolerate.

"There's a difference between 'allowed to come' and 'followed,'" he said plainly.

He then turned towards Elfman and Lisanna before beckoning them over. "We're going to have something special tonight, want to help?"

"Yes!" Lisanna and Elfman readily agreed. They could see what Archer was planning already by asking them to participate, and they were more than eager to help.

The atmosphere with Mirajane had been a tad stifling since the morning when she discovered that Archer had once again left without her.

Now, it appeared as if she was about to blow from the moment her eyes spotted Archer walking down the streets. This was why Elfman and Lisanna stood waiting with Mirajane rather than play like usual.

"You still didn't answer my question as to why you still won't take me on missions with you," Mirajane fumed.

Archer sighed as he scratched at the back of his head. Finally, he turned to stare directly at Mirajane.

"It's not that I don't want to," he began slowly. "It's just that I don't always take the easiest of missions."

He'd call that an understatement.

After all, from the missions he'd already undertaken, more than just a few of them ended up at a higher level than what was specified. Take his mission repelling beasts from the farms as an example. It should have had just been beasts to repel, but magical one's ended up appearing instead. As it would turn out, it was because of the appearance of these magic beasts that drove the regular beasts into the farmer's lands.

Luckily, it was him who had undertaken such a mission, and his years of experience had allowed him to deal with it. The only complications appeared in the form of Erza and Jellal who had followed. He had nearly suffered an injury attempting to protect them as he couldn't just leave them. However, at the end of it all, his actions had apparently only solidified something in the minds of Erza and Jellal; especially from the way they had scrutinized him when he had traced out his weapons.

If such a situation occurred again, he didn't want to risk Mirajane's safety until she at least had control of her magic like Jellal and Erza. If so, she would be able to buy some time for him to intervene.

"Dangerous?" Mirajane asked incredulously. "Dad used to take us out hunting, and you were even younger than I was back then."

Archer shrugged his shoulders, before grabbing a few kitchen appliances. From there he grabbed a bag of flour, some eggs, milk, and seasonings which he then formed into a doughy batter.

Passing the batter in his hands to Elfman and Lisanna, he nodded to them to begin kneading it. Only then, did he put his attention back on Mirajane while cutting some vegetables.

"Animals are one thing, but magic beasts are another. This next mission is in a remote town, so there's a chance there that I'm not willing to take," he explained just as he finished chopping the vegetables. He then moved on to the meet, glancing upwards with his eyes towards Mirajane.

It wasn't that he couldn't understand what it was that Mirajane was feeling, it was just that he chose to ignore it. After arriving and living in Fiore, he had realized something that gave him pause.

He was slowly changing.

The fire at the hearth roared brightly as Lisanna and Elfman found entertainment punching at the dough. Kids as they were, it didn't take much to amuse them.

Archer absently rubbed their heads dotingly, the action softening Mirajane's gaze.

Family.

A word that ties an entire group of people, and forges the strongest of bonds.

He had seen families with fathers and mothers willing to die for their children regardless of the situation. It didn't matter to them if anyone else died, so long as their children lived. From a third person's perspective, such behaviour should have been frowned upon just considering number, and he had once acknowledged that reasoning. Now though, he didn't know.

After all, he had barely known what it was like to have a family in his past life with Kiritsugu dying young, and his memories before the Fire wiped away. Therefore, it was only natural that such emotions would now cloud his mind. Changing his perspectives such that even he noticed the change.

If any one of his siblings were caught in a situation where their lives were placed in danger compared to several dozens, he was scared to discover that he would hesitate as to who he would save. As a past Counter Guardian, and a man who had grown cynical over time, he was sure that his beliefs should have had been stronger.

To save the many over the few.

To be the most practical.

Yet he couldn't bring himself to do it.

Elfman and Lisanna began arguing about who got to role the dough out with the roller he had given them; Lisanna winning in the end when Mirajane sent a swift glance at Elfman and then back to him.

"I'm the eldest sister," Mirajane spoke uncrossing her arms and clenching them. "I want to help the family too."

Archer hummed as he mashed some tomatoes into paste. "You are already just by being yourself," he said. "It's why I have no worries leaving you all here when I go out."

"T-That's not the point…" Mirajane trailed off before growing stubborn. "Just let me come with you okay? I can be strong too."

Mirajane was currently wearing a black tank-top with an exposed mid-drift that was too revealing in Archer's opinion, but it was an outfit Mirajane had hand picked herself. Therefore, he wouldn't comment further about the two black thigh-high stockings and matching short shorts and white belt she wore. Although, that couldn't stop the flash of irritation that appeared in his eyes.

"You haven't mastered your magic yet," he reasoned. Thereafter, he motioned for Lisanna and Elfman to step aside as he smeared the tomato paste onto the rolled-out dough much to their curiosity. This only increased further when he began to place the chopped vegetables and meats overtop followed by several layers of cheese.

Mirajane grinned in response to Archer's reply.

"That's why I have this!" She revealed with a flourish. A dark grey cloak fell over her shoulders that his everything beneath besides her head. "Even if it goes out of control, they won't see. And even if they do, we can just knock them up on the head."

Left speechless by Mirajane, Archer closed his mouth before proceeding to place dinner into the oven to allow it to rise and bake.

Clapping his hands clean, Archer could only try to find a way to dissuade Mirajane.

Clearly though, that wasn't going to happen with the amount of determination in her eyes.

However, he did realize a method to forestall the conclusion.

It was in the twitching of Mirajane's nose as the fragrance of the food he was making permeated throughout the room. Evidently, Mirajane was getting distracted. Just like Lisanna and Elfman, she had never seen nor tasted what Archer was making right now. And the smell of melting cheese was truly too intoxicating.

Archer remained silent for fifteen to twenty minutes, stalling for time. Although by then, Mirajane had already joined up with Elfman and Lisanna to peer into the oven.

Archer shook his head in amusement at the scene.

Standing up, he pulled the freshly baked pizza from out of the oven, its appearance alone as something that the Strauss siblings had never seen before. After all, they'd never been able to afford the ingredients until now.

When Archer began cutting slices out, and then passing one to Lisanna, and then to Elfman, Mirajane silently watched as the two took their bites.

Just from the light that seemed to shine from their faces as they wolfed the pieces down let Mirajane know what they thought of Archer's latest dish.

"So," Archer began, lifting a slice of pizza for Mirajane; trails of melted cheese making spider-like webs as they snapped away from the whole pizza.

Despite Archer talking, Mirajane's eyes were on the piece of food in front of her. She then shifted them towards Elfman and Lisanna who were already eagerly preparing to grab more slices. It didn't seem as if the food would be able to last.

"So," Archer repeated again under Mirajane's conflicting gaze, "You were saying before?"

* * *

Archer walked stiffly, but he eventually took things in stride as Mirajane trailed behind his back.

It was the next morning, and just as he was about to undergo his next mission, Mirajane ended up appearing directly at the mission's desk to tag along with him. Having had enough of being stood up at home.

Beside her, both Elfman and Lisanna had given him apologetic expressions, but he supposed that he couldn't blame them. There was no way the two were going to stop Mirajane; not when Elfman still cowers beneath her glares, and Lisanna could be easily swayed.

"Alright, we're stopping for a moment," He said.

Their surroundings were filled with vegetation and tall trees that seemed to stretch out towards the sky. Light travelled in the from the canopy, creating dotted shadows from the illumination of the leaves above.

Mirajane paused in her steps and stared curiously at Archer. The cloak she was currently wearing over her shoulders was useful in the environment they were around as it prevented her skin from getting cut by the shrubbery they were walking through. However, it also increased her chances of getting snagged by unsuspecting branches. In any case, there were ups and downs to it, but she had to wear it just in case.

When Archer told Mirajane to stop, it was for the sole reason of making sure that she would be safe during the mission. It entailed the investigation of a mysterious happening in the nearby villages by Magnolia.

Some phenomenon appeared to be occurring that would reduce those effected into a coma of sorts, making it appear as if all the residents in the town were just sleeping. In any case, the difficulty of the missions was un-ranked because it was a simple investigation to find out what was going on, and that there weren't any casualties involved. As such, it was just theorized that it may be some time of new plant in the region.

Another reason was possibly due to the relatively low pay rate. It was a wonder that he even took the mission, but he supposed it was because he had once hunted in that area. He didn't actually visit the villages there before, but he was familiar with their locations.

In any case, as he fiddled in his storage for further details on the mission, he couldn't help but touch the other mission file he had in his bag.

The one issued by both Erza and Jellal.

He was a fool to have had taken it, but back then, he couldn't prevent himself from taking the mission paper into his hands and discreetly tucking it into his pocket.

Mission formalities aside, he took another mission paper and had filed it with the receptionist at the bar. Thus, leaving said mission file in his possession till present date.

"I don't what we may find, but what I do know is that your magic is currently unreliable until you can master it," Archer said.

Mirajane didn't refute. As even now, after Archer had reverted her arm, it would only appear when she lost control of her emotions. Very rarely did it appear when she wanted it to, but she could feel that she was getting close.

Archer stretched out his hand, and a short sword appeared within it. It was a mystic code, one that relied on its mysteries to aid the user through fluid movement.

It was the same principle as connecting the dots on a doted picture. The sword would move, and the body would follow. This was the best sort of protection at the moment as Mirajane didn't train in how to use a sword.

"Thanks?" Mirajane said skeptically, understanding why she was passed the sword, but not understanding its use.

"Just keep it on you at all times alright?"

Rather than explain, he was more inclined to not answer. Sure he could pass it off as there being magic in the sword, but how would he explain where it came from? Currently, mostly everyone who knew him believed him to possess Requip magic. If so, it wouldn't be hard to believe that he could pull out a magic sword he had stored before hand, yet it was impossible with his current situation. For starters, he was too poor to afford one, and none of the missions he had taken rewarded any type of magic item. Therefore, he wouldn't be able to explain it.

"Okay," Mirajane nodded her head before walking forward. "Let me lead this time," she spoke confidently, a grin on her face.

He stared at that gradually shrinking back in front of him and sighed. He and she both knew who was more suited to lead at the moment, yet still, Mirajane just brushed that knowledge aside. Were all girls this age supposed to be so daring and illogical?

Shaking his head, he glanced back at the woods behind him before mumbling under his breath and tracing out two more swords, and then leaving.

Moments later, Erza and Jellal arrived in the spot, staring at the swords left for them in wonder.

Archer knew that this would only encourage them to continue such behaviour, but this mission did have its dangers despite how low grade it was. This was his intuition speaking. On another point, he did see the weapon Erza had brought in the last mission shattering on the scales of the magic beast that had attacked them. Thus, he could at least give her a new sword.

Still, his brows furrowed as he thought about what Mirajane would do if she knew that Erza and Jellal were not that far away from them.

Probably sour her mood and start a fight.

Mirajane had a grudge with Erza, of which he couldn't understand why it had escalated to this point. The two were like ice and fire, best to keep them separate.

Gaze remaining vigilant, he kept an eye out for Mirajane as they approached one of the nearby towns.

It was quiet, the sounds only coming from the critters in the forest.

"Weird," Mirajane muttered, slowing her pace down to walk beside Archer.

Archer hummed in thought. The buildings around him were reminiscent of the Strauss family's past home: buildings of piled and nailed wood held together by a square thatched roof.

No one was around to greet them.

"From what the mission said, it was quiet possible that all the people here may have had already been effected by whatever the thing is that's causing this," Archer deduced. "Look over there."

Motioning in a direction, Archer's gaze grew cold.

Mirajane only opened her mouth in alarm.

There was a person sprawled out in the backyard of their own house unconscious. An axe was nearby, and blocks of wood were still in the process of getting neatly piled up; revealing that the man had been in the process of working when he suddenly passed out. therefore, it was clearly unnatural.

"Wait here," Archer spoke to Mirajane before moving forward.

The man that lay in front of him was still breathing, but an ominous feeling began to emerge from within Archer as he approached.

Outwardly, the man was fine. In fact, he even had a healthy shade of tan to his skin rather than a paleness associated with disease. Ergo, he should have had been fine. Yet, Archer could sense exactly what was wrong with the man.

A glaring part of the man's soul was missing.

"Did you find anything wrong?" Mirajane asked from his side.

He didn't answer, his mind lost in thought. As the soul was a reflection of the physical body, damage to it will also affect the status of the individual. Yet, he didn't know any kind of magic that could have this kind of effect in Fiore.

As he continued to contemplate, his eyes noticed something beneath the man. And as he moved to get a better look, his expression froze.

"S-Shirou?" Mirajane asked, noticing the sudden change in Archer.

It wasn't just his expression that froze, his whole body had. Even worse, Mirajane saw trepidation and shock spread across Archer's face.

"Get out of here," Archer said in a low voice.

"W-What? You can't be serious, we just got here," Mirajane crossed her arms in defiance. "I can help too!"

Yet, in the next moment, Mirajane buckled under Archer's gaze. It was beyond cold, almost as if he was no longer the same person she knew growing up. A shiver ran down her back, as she forced herself not to tremble.

"Get out of her, it's not safe!" Archer raised his tone, the action alarming Mirajane as she struggled to formulate a response.

Archer was growing agitated, the unconscious man behind him now left forgotten over the pair of swords he now had on hand.

Kanshou and Bakuya gleamed in the early morning light as Archer seemed to charge in at a specific direction, but by then, it seemed too late.

A scream ripped across the forest.

The rustling of the leaves the only sound in the silence that followed.

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 **Thanks for Reading! Merry Christmas!**

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